omen.

The mariner tells The sun came up upon the left, In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, how the ship sail.

Out of the sea came he! ed mouthward

It perch'd for vespers nine: with a good wind And he shone bright, and on the right Whiles all the night, through fogand fair weather: Went down into the sea. till it reached the

smoke white, line,

Glimmer'd the white moonshine.
Higher and higher every day,
Till over the mast at noon-

“God save thee, ancient mariner! The ancient mari. The wedding-guest here beat his From the fiends that plague thee thus! killeth the pious breast,

Why look'st thou so ?"— With my bird of good For he heard the loud bassoon.

cross-bow

I shot the ALBATROSS.
The wedding. The bride hath paced into the hall,
guest heareth the
Red as a rose is she ;

PART II.
bridal music; but
the mariner con- Nodding their heads before her goes The sun now rose upon the right:
tinuetb his tale.
The merry minstrelsy.

Out of the sea came he,
The wedding-guest he beat his breast, Went down into the sea.

Still hid in mist, and on the left
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man, And the good south wind still blew
The bright-eyed mariner:-

behind,
The ship drawn And now the storm-BLAST came, and But no sweet bird did follow,
by a storm toward

Nor any day for food or play
he
the south pole.

Came to the mariner's hollo!
Was tyrannous and strong;
He struck with his o’ertaking wings, And I had done an hellish thing,

His shipmated cry
And chased us south along.

out against the And it would work 'em wo:

ancient mariner, With sloping masts and dripping prow, That made the breeze to blow. For all averr’d, I had kill'd the bird for killing the bird

of good-luck. As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe,

Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,

That made the breeze to blow!
And forward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roar'd the Nordim nor red, like God's own head, But when tbe fog
blast,

cleared off, they The glorious sun uprist:

justify the same, And southward aye we fled. Then all averrod, I had kill'd the bird and thus make

themselvos ae. And now there came both mist and That brought the fog and mist.

complices in the snow,

'Twas right, said they, such birds to crime.
And it grew wondrous cold;

slay
And ice, mast-high, came floating by, That bring the fog and mist.
As green as emerald.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam The fair breeze

continues; the The land of ice, And through the drifts the snowy

flew,

ship enters the and of fearful clifts The furrow follow'd free ;

Pacific Ocean, and Bounds, where DO living thing was Did send a dismal sheen:

We were the first that ever burst

even till it reach.

es the line. Nor shapes of men nor beasts we Into that silent sea. ken

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt The ship hath The ice was all between.

been suddenly down,

becalmed. The ice was here, the ice was there,

'Twas sad as sad could be ;
The ice was all around:

And we did speak only to break
It crack'd and growl'd, and roard and The silence of the sea !
howl'd,

All in a hot and copper sky,
Like noises in a swound!

The bloody sun, at noon,
Till a great sea. At length did cross an albatross:

Right up above the mast did stand, bird, called the albatross, Thorough the fog it came ;

No bigger than the moon. through the snow As if it had been a Christian soul, Day after day, day after day, fog, and was re. ceived with grea! We hail'd it in God's name.

We stuck, nor breath nor motion ; joy and hospita

As idle as a painted ship
lity.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,

Upon a painted ocean.
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
Water, water, everywhere,

And the albatross

begins to be The helmsman steer'd us through! And all the boards did shrink :

avenged,

Water, water, everywhere, And lo! the alba. And a good south wind sprung up

Nor any drop to drink. tross proveth a bird of good behind;

The very deep did rot: 0) Christ! omen, and follow. eth the ship as it The albatross did follow,

That ever this should be ! returned north- And every day, for food or play, Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs ward through fog Came to the mariner's hollo!

Upon the slimy sea, and floating ice.

sails

northward

to be seen.

came

more.

scea 23 bar
the face of the

their sore distress

Om aad ber

no other su taari

cres!

About, about, in reel and rout When that strange shape drove sud-
The death-fires danced at night;

denly
The water, like a witch's oils, Betwixt us and the sun.
Burnt green, and blue, and white.
And straight the sun was fleck'd with it seemeth him

but tbe telesa A spirit bad fol. And some in dreams assured were

bars,

of a ship lowed them; one of the spirit that plagued us so;

(Heaven's mother send us grace !) of the invisible in. liabitants of this Nine fathom deep he had follow'd us As if through a dungeon-grate he planet,-neither From the land of mist and snow.

peer'd
departed souls
nor angels; concerning whom the learned Jew, Josephus, and the With broad and burning face.
Platonic Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus, may be consulted. They
are very numerous, and there is no climate or element without one or Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat

loud,)
And every tongue, through utter How fast she nears and rears!
drought,

Are those her sails that glance in the
Was wither'd at the root;

sun,
We could not speak, no more than if Like restless gossamers ?
We had been choked with soot.

Are those her ribs through which the and its ribs are The shipmates,in Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks

sun would sain throw Had I from old and young !

Did peer, as through a grate;

setting a the whole guilt on Instead of the cross, the albatross

And is that woman all her crew? the apcient mari. About my neck was hung.

Is that a DEATH, and are there two? The spectre ner;-in siga

Is DEATH that woman's mate? whereof they

death-tuate, 11 hang the dead sea-bird round his PART III.

Her lips were red, her looks were the skeletreebip. neck.

free, THERE pass'd a weary time. Each

Like Sessel,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
throat

Her skin was as white as leprosy,
Was parch’d, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!

The Night-Mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was
How glazed each weary eye,

she,

Who thicks man's blood with cold. The ancient ma. When looking westward, I beheld sign in the ele. A something in the sky.

The naked hulk alongside came,

Death and Le ment afar ofl.

And the twain were casting dice;
At first it seem'd a little speck

“ The game is done! I've won, I've ship's cres, as! And then it seem'd a mist;

she, the latter, It moved and moved, and took at last

Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
A certain shape, I wist.

The sun's rim dips; the stars rush No twilight
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!

within the c3

out:
And it still neard and near'd:

At one stride comes the dark;
As if it dodged a water-sprite,

With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea
It plunged and tack'd and veerd.

Off shot the spectre-bark.
At its nearer ap. With throats unslaked, with black
proach, it seem.

We listen’d and look'd sideways up! At the rising eth him to be a lips baked,

the moc,

Fear at my heart, as at a cup, ship; and at a We could nor laugh nor wail;

My life-blood seem'd to sip! freeth his speech Through utter drought all dumb we

The stars were dim, and thick the thirst.

night,
I bit my arm, I suck'd the blood,

The steersman's face by his lamp
And cried, A sail! a sail !

gleam'd white;
With throats unslaked, with black From the sails the dew did drip-
lips baked,

Till clomb above the eastern bar
Agape they heard me call;

The horned moon, with one bright
A flash of joy. Gramercy! they for joy did grin,

star
And all at once their breath drew in, Within the nether tip.
As they were drinking all.
One after one, by the star-doggd One after 23-

other,
And horror fol. See! see! (I cried,) she tacks no moon,
lows; for can it be
more!

Too quick for groan or sigh, a ship, that comes onward without Hither to work us weal;

Each turn'd his face with a ghastly wind or tido? Without a breeze, without a tide,

pang, She steadies with upright keel!

And cursed me with his eye.

in-DeatA bare diced for the

won!"

Wispeth the 15 cient manner.

of the SD.

dear ransom he

from the bonds of

stood;

His shipdates drop down dead.

The western wave was all a flame,
The day was wellnigh done,
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright sun;

Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan,)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropp'd down one by one.

on mariner.

moon he behold.

calm.

mariner assureth

creatures of the calm.

in his heart.

But Life-in-Death The souls did from their bodies fly,- Her beams bemock'd the sultry main,
begins her work
the ancient They fled to bliss or wo!

Like April hoar-frost spread;
And every soul, it pass'd me by But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
Like the whizz of my CROSS-BOW! The charmed water burnt alway

A still and awful red.
PART IV.

Beyond the shadow of the ship By the light of the The wedding “I FEAR thee, ancient mariner!

I watch'd the water-snakes; guest feareth that

eth God's crea. a spirit is talking

fear thy skinny hand! [brown, They moved in tracks of shining tures of the great to him; And thou art long, and lank, and

white, As is the ribb'd sea-sand.*

And when they rear'd, the elfish light
“ I fear thee and thy glittering eye,

Fell off in hoary flakes.
And thy skinny hand so brown.”—
But the ancient Fear not, fear not, thou wedding- I watch'd their rich attire ;

Within the shadow of the ship
him of his bodily
guest!

Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, life, and proceed. This body dropt not down. eth to relate bis

They coild and swam; and every horrible pegance. Alone, alone, all, all alone,

track
Alone on a wide, wide sea !

Was a flash of golden fire.
And never a saint took pity on O happy living things! no tongue

Their beauty and
My soul in agony.

their happiness.

Their beauty might declare;
He despiseth the The many men, so beautiful !

A spring of love gushd from my
And they all dead did lie:

heart,

He blesseth them
And a thousand thousand slimy things And I bless’d them unaware:
Lived on; and so did I.

Sure my kind saint took pity on me,

And I bless'd them unaware. And envieth that I look'd upon the rotting sea, they should live, And drew my eyes away;

The selfsame moment I could pray ;

The spell begins and so many lie

to break. dead.

I look'd upon the rotting deck, And from my neck so free
And there the dead men lay.

The albatross fell off, and sank

Like lead into the sea.
I look'd to heaven, and tried to pray ;
But or ever a prayer had gush’d,

PART V.
A wicked whisper came, and made

O SLEEP! it is a gentle thing,
My heart as dry as dust.

Beloved from pole to pole!
I closed my lids, and kept them close, To Mary queen the praise be given !
And the balls like pulses beat; She sent the gentle sleep from heaven,
For the sky and the sea, and the sea That slid into my soul.

and the sky,
Lay like a load on my weary eye

The silly buckets on the deck, By grace of the
And the dead were at my feet.
That had so long remain'd,

holy mother, the

ancient mariner I dreamt that they were fill'd with is refreshed with

rain. But the curre liv. The cold sweat melted from their limbs,

And when I awoke it rain'd. eye of the dead

Nor rot nor reek did they : [me
The look with which they look'd on My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
Had never pass'd away.

My garments all were dank;

Sure I had drunken in my dreams,
An orphan's curse would drag to hell And still my body drank.
A spirit from on high ;
But O! more horrible than that

I moved, and could not feel my limbs:
Is a curse in a dead man's eye!

I was so light-almost
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that I thought that I had died in sleep,

And was a blessed ghost.
curse,
And yet I could not die.
And soon I heard a roaring wind: He heareth

sounds and seeth

It did not come anear; In his loneliness The moving moon went up the sky,

strange sights and And nowhere did abide :

But with its sound it shook the sails, commotions in yearneth towards

the sky and the the journeying Softly she was going up,

That were so thin and sere. moon, and the

And a star or two beside stars that still so

The upper air burst into life! journ, yet still move opward ; and everywhere the blue sky belongs to them, and is their appointed rest, and their pative country and their | And a hundred fire-flags sheen, own natural home, wbich they enter unannounced, as lords that are To and fro they were hurried about ! certainly expected, and yet there is a silent joy at their arrival.

And to and fro, and in and out,

The wan stars danced between.
* For the last two lines of this stanza, I am indebted to
Mr. Wordsworth. It was on a delightful walk from Nether and the coming wind did roar more
Slowey to Dulverton, with him and his sister, in the

loud, autumn of 1797, that this poem was planned, and in part

And the sails did sigh like sedge; coinposed,

dew;

eth for him in the

men.

and firedness be

element.

fellow

And the rain pour'd down from one It ceased; yet still the sails made on
black cloud;

A pleasant noise till noon,
The moon was at its edge.

A noise like of a hidden brook

In the leafy month of June,
The thick black cloud was cleft, and That to the sleeping woods all night
still

Singeth a quiet tune.
The moon was at its side :
Like waters shot from some high crag, Till noon we quietly sailed on,
The lightning fell with never a jag,

Yet never a breeze did breathe:
A river steep and wide.

Slowly and smoothly went the ship,

Moved onward from beneath. The bodies of the The loud wind never reach'd the ship's crew are

The lonesome Under the keel nine fathom deep, ship, inspired, and the

From the land of mist and snow,

epirit from the

south pole carries ship moves on. Yet now the ship moved on !

The spirit slid: and it was he on the ship as far
Beneath the lightning and the moon
That made the ship to go.

the line, ia

obediesce to the The dead men gave a groan. The sails at noon left off their tune, angelie troop, bat

still requireth They groan'd, they stirr’d, they all And the ship stood still also.

vengeance.
uprose,

The sun, right np above the mast,
Nor spake, nor moved their eyes;

Had fix'd her to the ocean :
It had been strange, e'en in a dream, But in a minute she’gan to stir,
To have seen those dead men rise.

With a short uneasy motion-
The helmsman steer'd, the ship moved Backwards and forwards half her

length
on ;

With a short uneasy motion.
Yet never a breeze up blew;
The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, Then like a pawing horse let go,
Where they were wont to do;

She made a sudden bound:
They raised their limbs like liseless It Aung the blood into my head,
tools-

And I fell down in a swound.
We were a ghastly crew

How long in that same fit I lay, The polar spirit
The body of my brother's son

demons I have not to declare;

the invisible in Stood by me, knee to knee ;

But ere my living life return'd, habitants of the The body and I pull'd at one rope,

element, take part I heard and in my soul discern'd

in his wrong; But he said naught to me. Two voices in the air.

and two of the

relate, one to the But not by the “I fear thee, ancient mariner!"

other, that per souls of the men,

“Is it he?" quoth one, “ is this the

ance long and Dor by dæmons of Be calm, thou wedding-guest:

man ?

heavy for the as earth" or middle 'Twas not those souls that fled in By Him who died on cross,

cient marider air, but by a

hath been accord. blessed troop of pain,

With his cruel bow he laid full low ed to the polar angelic spirits, Which to their corses came again,

spirit, who re sent down by the But a troop of spirits blest:

The harmless albatross.

turneth southinvocation of the

wart.
guardian saint.
For when it dawn'd-they dropp'd

“ The spirit who bideth by himself
In the land of mist and snow,

He loved the bird that loved the man
And cluster'd round the mast;
Sweet sounds rose slowly through

Who shot him with his bow."
their mouths,

The other was a softer voice,
And from their bodies pass’d.

As soft as honey-dew:
Around, around, flew each sweet Quoth he, “The man hath penance
sound,

done,
Then darted to the sun;

And penance more will do."
Slowly the sounds came back again,
Now mix'd, now one by one.

PART VI.

FIRST VOICE.
Sometimes, a-drooping from the sky, But tell me, tell me! speak again,
I heard the skylark sing;
Sometimes all little birds that are,

Thy soft response renewing-
How they seem'd to fill the sea and i What makes that ship drive on so fast?
air,

What is the ocean doing?
With their sweet jargoning!

SECOND VOICE.
And now 'twas like all instruments, Still as a slave before his lord,
Now like a lonely flute;

The OCEAN hath no blast;
And now it is an angel's song, His great bright eye most silently
That makes the heavens be mute. Up to the moon is cast-

their arms,