The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. IN SEVEN PARTS. By S. T. Coleridge. IT is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, "Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ? "The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide, "And I am next of kin ; "The guests are met, the feast is set : "May'st hear the merry din." He holds him with his skinny hand, "There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon !" Eftsoons his hand dropt he. He holds him with his glittering eye The wedding-guest stood still, And listens like a three years child: The Sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he; And he shone bright, and on the right Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she; Nodding their heads before her goes The ship drawn by a storm toward the south pole. The land of ice, and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen. Til' a great sea-bird called the Albatross came through the snow-fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality. And lo! the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward, thro' fog and floating ice. The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen. The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he He struck with his o'ertaking wings, With sloping masts and dipping prow, The ship drove fast, loud roar'd the blast, And now there came both' mist and snow, And it grew wonderous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, And through the drifts the snowy clift Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken- The ice was here, the ice was there, It cracked and growled, and roar'd and howl'd, At length did cross an Albatross : It ate the food it ne'er had eat, The ice did split with a thunder-fit; And a good south wind sprung up behind; And every day, for food or play, Came to the Mariner's hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perch'd for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, "God save thee, ancient Mariner! The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. PART THE SECOND. 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. And the good south wind still blew behind, Nor any day for food or play And I had done an hellish thing, Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay, Nor dim nor red, like God's own head Then all averred, I had killed the bird 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, We were the first that ever burst Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, And we did speak only to break His ship-mates cry out against the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck. But when the fog cleared off, they justify the sanie, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime. The fair breeze continues; the ship enters the Pacific Ocean, and sails northward, even till it reaches the Line. The ship hath been suddenly becalmed. The silence of the sea! About, about, in reel and rout And every tongue, through utter drought, We could not speak, no more than if Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Instead of the cross, the Albatross The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. PART THE THIRD. THERE passed a weary time. Each throat At first it seem'd a little speck, And then it seem'd a mist: It moved and moved, and took at last A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! With throat unslack'd, with black lips baked, Through utter drought all dumb we stood! And cried, A sail! a sail ! With throat unslacked, with black lips baked, Agape they heard me call: Gramercy! they for joy did grin, And all at once their breath drew in, As they were drinking all. See! See! (I cried) she tacks no more! Without a breeze, without a tide; The western wave was all a-flame. When that strange shape drove suddenly And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, As if through a dungeon-grate he peer'd Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud) Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, Are those her ribs through which the Sun Is that a DEATH? and are there two? Her lips were red, her looks were free, The Night-Mair LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, The naked hulk alongside came, And the twain were casting dice: "The game is done! I've won! I've won!" Quoth she, and whistles thrice. A gust of wind sterte up behind And whistled through his bones; And horror follows For can it be a ship that comes onward without wind or tide? It seemeth him but the skeleton of a ship. And its ribs are seen as bars on the face of the setting Sun. The spectre woman and her Deathmate, and no other on board the skeleton-ship. Like vessel, like crew! DEATH and LIFEIN-DEATH, have diced for the ship's crew and she (the latter) winneth the ancient Mariner. Through the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth, The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out : My life-blood seem'd to sip! The stars were dim, and thick the night, The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white, From the sails the dews did drip Till clombe above the eastern bar The horned Moon, with one bright star At the rising of the moon, |