THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER PART I An ancient Mar- It is an ancient Mariner, iner meeteth three gallants bidden to a wedding feast, and detaineth one. The Wedding Guest is spellbound by the eye of the old seafaring man, and constrained And he stoppeth one of three. 66 By thy long gray beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? 66 The bridegroom's doors are opened wide, 5 And I am next of kin ; The guests are met, the feast is set: Mayst hear the merry din." He holds him with his skinny hand, "There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! unhand me, graybeard loon!" He holds him with his glittering eye- And listens like a three-years' child: to hear his tale. The Mariner hath his will. The Wedding Guest sat on a stone: 10 15 He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, 20 "The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top. "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, Nodding their heads before her, goes The Wedding Guest he beat his breast, "And now the storm blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong: He struck us with his o'ertaking wings, "With sloping masts and dipping prow, The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, "And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, 25 The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with 30 35 40 45 50 The land of ice "And through the drifts, the snowy clifts 55 and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen. Till a great sea bird, called the Did send a dismal sheen : Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken — "The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: 60 It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, "At length did cross an Albatross, Albatross, came Thorough the fog it came ; through the snow-fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality. And lo! the Al batross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward through fog and floating ice. The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the bird of good omen. As if it had been a Christian soul, "It ate the food it ne'er had eat, 65 70 "And a good south wind sprung up behind; The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariners' hollo! "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, 75 Whiles all the night, through fog smoke white. "God save thee, ancient Mariner, From the fiends that plague thee thus! - 80 PART II "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. 85 "And the good south wind still blew behind, But no sweet bird did follow, Nor any day, for food or play, "And I had done a hellish thing, For all averred I had killed the bird 90 'Ah, wretch!' said they, 'the bird to slay, 95 That made the breeze to blow!' "Nor dim, nor red, like God's own head, Then all averred I had killed the bird 100 "Twas right,' said they, 'such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist.' "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. 105 His shipmates cry out against the ancient Mariner for killing the bird of good luck. But when the fog cleared off, they justify the same, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime. The fair breeze continues; the ship enters the Pacific Ocean, and sails north ward, even till it reaches the Line. "Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, The ship hath 'Twas sad as sad could be ; And we did speak only to break been suddenly becalmed. The silence of the sea! 110 A spirit had followed them; one of the invisible inhabitants of this planet, neither departed souls nor angels; concerning whom the learned Jew Josephus, and the Platonic Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus, may be That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs 125 130 consulted. They "And every tongue, through utter drought, 135 are very numer- Was withered at the root; ous, and there is no climate or element without one or more. We could not speak, no more than if |