"And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, As if through a dungeon grate he peered “Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud) Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, "Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate? And is that Woman all her crew? Is that a Death? and are there two? "The naked hull alongside came, "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. "The stars were dim and thick the night, The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white ; From the sails the dew did drip Till clomb above the eastern bar The horned Moon, with one bright star Within the nether tip. Four times fifty living men, 'And I heard nor sigh nor groan,) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, “The souls did from their bodies fly,— They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed me by, “The many men, so beautiful! And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I. “I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away ; I looked upon the rotting deck, "I looked to heaven, and tried to pray But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made "The moving Moon went up the sky, And nowhere did abide : Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside. “Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes. “Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, "O happy living things! no tongue A spring of love gushed from my heart, Sure my kind Saint took pity on me, "The selfsame moment I could pray; The Albatross fell off, and sank "And soon I heard a roaring wind: It did not come anear; But with its sound it shook the sails, That were so thin and sere. "The loud wind never reached the ship, Yet now the ship moved on! "They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose. Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; It had been strange, even in a dream, "The helmsman steered, the ship moved on, Yet never a breeze up blew ; The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, F Where they were wont to do; They raised their limbs like lifeless toolsWe were a ghastly crew." "I fear thee, ancient Mariner !" "Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest! 'Twas not those souls that fled in pain, Which to their corses came again, "Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship, Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze- "Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed Is this the hill? is this the kirk? "Since then, at an uncertain hour, My agony returns: And till my ghastly tale is told, “I pass, like night, from land to land ; I know the man that must hear me : "What loud uproar bursts from that door: The wedding-guests are there : But in the garden-bower the bride And bride-maids singing are: "O sweeter than the marriage-feast, To walk together to the kirk "To walk together to the kirk, And altogether pray, While each to his great Father bends, "Farewell, farewell! but this I tell "He prayeth best, who loveth best S. T. Coleridge XXXIX SONG OF ARIEL Come unto these yellow sands, Curtsied when you have and kiss'd; |