THE ANCIENT MARINER.. L 66 PART I. It is an ancient Mariner 1, And he stoppeth one of three, By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, "The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin ; The guests are met, the feast is set : 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 2 The wedding-guest sat on a stone : He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner. The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the light-house top. The sun came up upon the left 3, 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 ha'4, Nodding their heads, before her goes The wedding-guest he beat his breast, And now the storm-blast came, and he 5 Was tyrannous and strong; He struck 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 ice, mast high, came floating by, And through the drifts, the snowy clifts Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken- The ice was here, the ice was there, It cracked and growled, and roared and howled At length did cross an albatross 7, Thorough the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And a good south-wind sprung up behind 8; And every day, for food or play, In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, Whiles all the night, thro' fog-smoke white, "God save thee, ancient Mariner 9! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!_ Why look'st thou so?"-With my cross-bow I shot the albatross. PART II. THE sun now rose upon the right: Still hid in mist, and on the left And the good south-wind still blew behind, But no sweet bird did follow, Came to the mariners' hollo! And I had done a hellish thing1, For all averred, I had killed the bird Ah, wretch! said they, the bird to slay Nor dim nor red, like God's own head 2, Then all averred, I had killed the bird 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew 3, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, '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. |