To-morrow; of the friends he loved most dear; The thoughts that would full fain the past recall; 415 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER IN SEVEN PARTS ARGUMENT.-How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what inanner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country. [1798.] An ancient meeteth PART I It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. three Gallants "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? bidden to a wedding-feast, and detaineth one The WeddingGuest is spellbound by the eye of the old seafaring man, and constrained to hear his tale "The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, The guests are met, the feast is set: He holds him with his skinny hand, 66 There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!" He holds him with his glittering eye- And listens like a three years' child: 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 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, 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 He struck with his o'ertaking wings, 66 "With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe, The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with a good wind and fair weather, till it reached the line The Wedding. Guest heareth the bridal music; but the Mariner continueth his tale The ship driven by a storm toward the south pole The land of ice, and of fearful sounds where no liv ing thing was to be seen Till a great came through and was received with great joy and hospitality And lo! the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward through fog And forward bends his head, 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, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, "It ate the food it ne'er had eat, "And good south wind sprung up behind; The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, and floating ice It perched for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, “God save thee, ancient Mariner ! The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen 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, Nor any day for food or play And I had done a hellish thing, 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, Then all averred, I had killed the bird 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. His shipmates cry out against the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck But when the The fair breeze Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, the Line 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! The ship hath been suddenly becalmed (H) HC XLI And the Alba tross begins to be avenged All in a hot and copper sky, Right up above the mast did stand, Day after day, day after day, Water, water, every where, The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs About, about, in reel and rout A Spirit had followed And some in dreams assured were them; one of the invisible Of the Spirit that plagued us so, inhabitants of this planet, neither departed souls nor angels; concerning whom the learned Jew, Josephus, and the Pla tonic Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus, may be consulted. 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 Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow. And every tongue, through utter drought, We could not speak, no more than if Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung. |