Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798)

Her beams bemock'd the sultry mainLike morning frosts yspread;But where the ship's huge shadow lay, The charmed water burnt alwayA still and awful red.Beyond the shadow of the shipI watch'd the water-snakes: They mov'd in tracks of shining white;And when they rear'd, the elfish lightFell off in hoary flakes.Within the shadow of the shipI watch'd their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet blackThey coil'd and swam; and every trackWas a flash of golden fi