THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. IN SEVEN PARTS. PART THE FIRST. [An ancient Mariner meeteth three Gallants bidden to a wedding. feast, and detaineth one.] It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three, By thy long gray beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? "The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: May'st hear the merry din." He holds him with his skinny hand, 66 There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! unhand me, gray-beard loon!" Eftsoons his hand dropt he. [The Wedding-Guest is spell-bound by the eye of the old sea-faring man, and constrained to hear his tale.] He holds him with his glittering eye The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three-years' child: The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner. The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top. [The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with good wind and fair weather, till it reached the Line.] The Sun came up upon the left Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea. Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, [The Wedding-Guest heareth the bridal music; but the Mariner continueth his tale.] The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she; Nodding their heads before her goes The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, Yet he cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, (The ship drawn by a storm toward the south pole.] And now the Storm-blast came, and he He struck with his o'ertaking wings, With sloping masts and dipping prow, The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, [The land of ice, and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen.] And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold: 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, [Till a great sea-bird, called the Albatross, came through the snow fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality.] At length did cross an Albatross: As if it had been a Christian soul, It ate the food it ne'er had ate, The ice did split with a thunder-fit; [And lo! the Albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward, through fog and floating ice.] And a good south wind sprung up behind; And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariners' hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, [The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen.] 66 God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look'st thou so?"-With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross. PART THE SECOND. The Sun now rose upon the right 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, Came to the mariners' hollo! [His ship-mates cry out against the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck.] And I had done an hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe: For all averred, 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! [But when the fog cleared off, they justify the same, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime.] Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious Sun uprist: Then all averred, I had killed the bird That brought the fog and mist. Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, (The fair breeze continues; the ship enters the Pacific Ocean and salls northward, even till it reaches the Line. suddenly becalmed.] The ship hath been The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, 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,. Day after day, day after day, [And the Albatross begins to be avenged.] Water, water, every where, The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea. About, about, in reel and rout |