CBSE Class 10 English Assignment - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Students are advised to refer to the attached assignments and practice them regularly. This will help them to identify their weak areas and will help them to score better in examination. Parents should download and give the assignments to their children for practice.

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

POEM AT A GLANCE

The ancient Mariner stops one of the wedding guests.

He wants to narrate his tale to him and unburden his grief.

The Wedding-Guest is in a hurry as he has to attend the wedding party.

The bright-eyed Mariner made the wedding-guest helpless.

He had no option but listen to his tale.

The old Mariner began narrating his story.

Their ship was cheered off the harbor happily.

There came a severe storm and it drove them southwards

Then it became very cold with both mist and snow.

The ship was surrounded by huge icebergs as high as the mast.

Then came the albatross from the fog.

The sailors cheered it as a ‘Christian Soul’.

The albatross’s arrival was auspicious as it brought a favourable south

wind.

The sailors gave it food and it flew over the ship.

In a senseless fit, the ancient Mariner killed the albatross with his crossbow.

The fellow mariners cursed the old Mariner for killing an innocent and

auspicious bird.

The weather worsened. The Mariners changed their opinion.

Now they justified the killing of the albatross as it had brought mist and

snow.

Sadness prevailed all around.

The sun started blazing and the ocean seemed to rot.

The wind stopped blowing and the sails were dropped down.

The ship stuck at one point and didn’t move ahead.

It looked like a painted ship on a painted ocean.

Water was all around but the sailors didn’t have even a drop of water to

drink.

The sailors saw in their dreams a spirit that was plaguing them.

They were in a hopeless situation and felt choked and dry in their mouth.

They held the ancient Mariner responsible for all their woes.

They all looked at him with “evil-eyes”.

The ancient Mariner was punished for his crime.

Instead of the holy cross, the dead albatross was hung around his neck.

Literary Devices in the poem

(i) Alliteration

(a) The furrow followed free

(b) Down dropt the breeze

(ii) Simile

(a) Like a three years child

(b) Red as a rose

(c) Like noises in a swound

(d) Like witch’s oils

(iii) Metaphor

(a) Snowy clifts

(b) The very deep

(iv) Repetition

(a) Glittering eye

(b) Water, water

(v) Personification

(a) Sun

(b) Storm blast

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (2 Marks)

(To be answered in not more than 30-40 words each)

1. How does the Wedding Guest feel while listening to the story of the

Ancient Mariner?

Ans. The Ancient Mariner stops one of the three Wedding Guests and forces him

to listen to his story. But the Wedding Guest is in a hurry. He is in no mood to

listen to his story. The Ancient Mariner holds his hand and immobilizes him

by placing him under a spell. The Wedding Guest stands still like a three

years old child and listens to the Mariner’s story.

2. What role does the Albatross play in the poem ‘the Rime of the Ancient

Mariner’?

Ans. The Albatross is a bird of good omen. It plays a significant role in the poem.

The sailor call it a Christian Soul. It emerges from the fog and is welcomed by

the sailors. They play with it and feed it with their hands the bird provides a

good company to the sailors. So they all rejoice at its arrival they are filled

with a new hope. But it brings suffering for the mariners after being killed by

the Ancient Mariner.

3. Give in your own words the theme of the poem ‘the Rime of the Ancient

Mariner’?

Ans. ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ is a supreme triumph of poetry. It is a

poem of exquisite beauty. It has a moral which gives it a human significance:

“heprayeth well, who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast.”

The whole poem illustrates the moral of an intimate kinship between all

living things. God is on the side of pity and love. The poem is a ‘myth of guilt

and redemption’. It clearly illustrates the theme of Christian concept of sin,

punishment and redemption. This Christian concept of sin is clearly

illustrated when the Rime of the Ancient Mariner kills the albatross and

undergoes suffering.

4. How do the Mariner’s fellow sailors become a party to the sin?

Ans. The ship enters the unfamiliar sea and comes to a standstill. The south wind

drops suddenly. The sailors fear that a great misfortune will befall them.

They condemn the killing of the bird of good omen. But nothing untoward

happens. The sun appears bright and the favourable wind starts blowing.

The sailors change their views. They say that the mariner has done the right

thing in killing the bird. Thus they become a party to the sin.

5. What were the blessings which the mariners experienced when the

albatross arrived on the ship?

Ans. When the albatross appeared the icebergs began to crack and split. The

pleasant south wind began to blow and mist disappeared. The weather

underwent a pleasant change. The mariners noted the changes and

attributed these to the bird. They regarded the appearance of the bird as

good omen. So they welcomed it. They fed the bird with their own hands.

They thought that the bird was a good Christian soul.

VALUE BASED QUESTION (Solved)

(To be answered in not more than 100 words each) (4 Marks)

1. “The poem is full of strange, uncanny or supernatural elements.”

Discuss with reference to the extract given below:

‘About, about, in reel and rout The

death-fires danced at night; The

water, like a witch’s oils, Burnt

green, and blue, and white.’

Ans. The poem is remarkable for its supernatural events. It is full of strange

events and remote, romantic setting. It appeals to us greatly because we are

transported from our familiar world to an unknown world. The voyage covers

different kinds of seascape and weather. There is calm and quiet weather, stormblast,

icy region and extremely hot region near the equator. The appearance of

the albatross- a huge seabird- as an omen of hope is a product of fertile

imagination. Its inexplicable killing by the old mariner by hanging the dead

albatross round his neck. The dead albatross remains a constant reminder of his

guilt. The glittering eyes of the mariner reveal that he has some extraordinary.

Supernatural power. With the mesmerizing power of his eyes he transfixes a

wedding guest and forces him to listen to his story. Thus, the whole poem is full

of strange, uncanny or supernatural elements.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (3 Marks)

(REFERENCE TO CONTEXT)

Read the extracts and answer the following questions by choosing the

appropriate option:

Note: Text Question 3, 4, 5, and 6 are for class Activity.

(1)

With sloping masts and dipping prow,

As who pursued with yell and blow,

Still tread the shadow of his foe,

And forward bends his head,

The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,

The southward aye we fled.

(i) Who are ‘we referred to here?

(a) The wedding guests

(b) Sailors on the ship

(c) Guests

(d) On-lookers

(ii) The poetic device used in the second line is

(a) Metaphor

(b) Onomatopoeia

(c) Personification

(d) Simile

(iii) The ship moved fast because of

(a) A storm

(b) A gentle breeze

(c) Its powerful engine

(d) Sailors

ANSWERS: (i) (b) (ii) (d) (iii) (a)

(2)

The ice was here, the ice was there

The ice was all around

It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,

Liked noise in a swound!

(i) The poetic device used in the first two lines is

(a) Metaphor

(b) Alliteration

(c) Repetition

(d) Refrain

(ii) The narrator wants to focus on

(a) The beauty of the landscape

(b) The noises produced by ice.

(c) The enormity or the ice scattered all around

(d) Weather conditions.

(iii) The ship was in the icy region in

(a) The South

(b) The north

(c) The east

(d) The west

ANSWERS: (i) (c) (ii)(c) (iii) (a)

EXTRACT BASED COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (3 Marks)

Read the following extracts and answer the given question:

(1)

The sun now rose upon the right

Out of the sea came he,

Still hid in mist, and on the left

Went down into the sea.

(i) Who is ‘he’ in the second line?

(ii) What does the scene refer to?

(iii) Which direction is the ship moving to?

ANSWER:

(i) ‘He’ refers to the sun.

(ii) The scene refers to the sunset.

(iii) The ship is now moving towards north.

(2)

And I had done a hellish thing,

And it would work’em woe:

For all averred, I had killed the bird

That made the breeze to blow.

Ah wretch! Said they, the bird to slay.

That make the breeze to blow!

(i) What did the speaker feel on killing the bird?

(ii) What was the reaction of the crew?

(iii) What had the crew though of the bird?

ANSWER

(i) The speaker felt repentant (remorseful) after killing the bird.

(ii) The crew condemned the old mariner in fear.

(iii) The crew had thought that the bird was lucky.

(3)

Nor dim nor red, like God’s own head

The glorious sun purist

Then all averred. I had killed the bird

That brought the fog and mist.

‘I was right, said they, such birds to slay

That bring the fog and mist

(i) What poetic device is used in the first line?

(ii) Why did the crew justify the killing of the Albatross?

(iii) What attitude of the crew is revealed in these lines?

ANSWER

(i) It s simile

(ii) The crew justified the killing of the albatross as they thought that the bird

was responsible for their sufferings.

(iii) It shows their fickle-mindedness

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