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.

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.

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 a hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:

For all averr'd, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!

Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
The glorious sun uprist:

Then all averr'd, I had kill'd the bird

That brought the fog and mist.

'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
That bring the fog and mist.

The fair breeze The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

continues; the

ship enters the Pacific Ocean,

and sails northward, even till it reaches the

Line.

The furrow followed free;

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

The ship hath Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,

been suddenly

becalmed.

'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,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,

Burnt green and blue and white.

And some in dreams assured were

Of the Spirit that plagued us so; Nine fathom deep he had follow'd us From the land of mist and snow.

And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was wither'd at the root;

We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks

Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung.

And the Albatross begins to be avenged.

A spirit had followed them; one of the invisible inhabitants of this planet, neither departed souls nor angels. They are very numerous, and there is no climate or element without one or more.

The shipmates, in their sore distress, would fain throw the whole guilt on the ancient Mariner: in sign whereof they hang the dead sea-bird round his neck.

The ancient
Mariner be-

holdeth a sign
in the element
afar off.

At its nearer approach, it seemeth him to be a ship; and at a dear ransom he freeth his speech from the bonds of thirst.

And horror follows. For can it be a ship that comes onward without wind

or tide?

PART III

THERE pass'd a weary time. Each throat
Was parch'd, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!

How glazed each weary eye,
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.

At first it seem'd a little speck,

And then it seem'd a mist;

It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!

And still it near'd and near'd:

As if it dodged a water-sprite,

It plunged and tack'd and veer'd.

With throats unslacked, with black lips baked
We could not laugh nor wail;

Through utter drought all dumb we stood!
I bit my arm, I suck'd the blood,

And cried, A sail! a sail!

See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!
Hither to work us weal;

Without a breeze, without a tide,
She steadies with upright keel!

The western wave was all a-flame.
The day was well-nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright Sun;

When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the Sun.

"Instead of the cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung."

It seemeth him And straight the Sun was fleck'd with bars, (Heaven's Mother send us grace!)

but the skele

ton of a ship.

As if through a dungeon-grate he peer'd
With broad and burning face.

Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!

Are those her sails that glance in the Sun,
Like restless gossameres?

And its ribs are Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate?

seen as bars on

the face of the setting Sun.

Like vessel, like crew!

in-Death have

And is that Woman all her crew?
Is that a Death? and are there two?
Is Death that woman's mate?

Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.

Death and Life- 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.

diced for the ship's crew,

and she (the latter) winneth the ancient Mariner.

No twilight within the

courts of the Sun.

The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out:
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea,
Off shot the spectre-bark.

At the rising of We listen'd and look'd sideways up!