The bride hath paced into the hall, Nodding their heads before her goes The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, And thus spake on that ancient man, And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he He struck with his o'ertaking wings, With sloping masts and dipping prow, And forward bends his head, The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And southward aye we fled. And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold : And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald. The weddingguest heareth the bridal music; but the mariner continueth his tale. The ship drawn by a storm toward the south pole. 0 The land of And through the drifts the snowy clifts ice, and of fearful sounds, where Did send a dismal sheen: no living Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken thing was to be seen. The ice was all between. Till a great sea-bird, called the Albatross, The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound! At length did cross an Albatross : Thorough the fog it came; came through As if it had been a Christian soul, the snow-fog, and was re- We hailed it in God's name. ceived with great joy and hospitality. It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit; The helmsman steered us through ! And lo! the And a good south wind sprung up behind ; Albatross proveth a bird The Albatross did follow, of good omen, and followeth And every day, for food or play, ship it returned northward, through fog and floating ice. Came to the mariners' hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, "God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!- The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen. THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. PART THE SECOND. His ship mates cry out against the ancient Mari 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, But no sweet bird did follow, Nor any day for food or play Came to the mariners' hollo ! And I had done an hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe: ner, for killing For all averred, I had killed the bird the bird of good luck. That made the breeze to blow. 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 The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. But when the fog cleared off, they justify the same, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime. The fair Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, The ship hath 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody Sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand, No bigger than the Moon. Day after day, day after day, Upon a painted ocean. been suddenly becalmed. |