By the light of RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. Her beams bemocked the sultry | My lips were wet, my throat was main, Like April hoar-frost spread; But where the ship's huge shadow The charmed water burnt alway, Beyond the shadow of the ship the moon I watched the water-snakes; creatures of the great calm. Their beauty white; cold, My garments all were dank; I moved, and could not feel my limbs; I thought that I had died in sleep, 573 And when they reared, the elfish And soon I heard a roaring wind- He hear light Fell off in hoary flakes. Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, | And a hundred fire-flags sheen, track Was a flash of golden fire. O happy living things! no tongue and their Their beauty might declare; happiness. To and fro they were hurried about; And the coming wind did roar more A spring of love gushed from my And the sails did sigh like sedge; And the rain poured down from one Sure my kind saint took pity on me, The moon was at its edge. and the element. The loud wind never reached the The bod- Yet now the ship moved on! They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose I dreamt that they were filled with Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; dew; with rain. And when I awoke, it rained. It had been strange, even in a dream, ies of the ship's crew arе inspired, and the ship moves on; But not by the souls of the men, The helmsman steered, the ship Till noon we quietly sailed on, moved on; Yet never a breeze up blew; We were a ghastly crew. The Body of my brother's son "I fear thee, Ancient Mariner!" "Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest! nor by de- 'T was not those souls that fled in mons of earth or pain, middle air, Which to their corses came again, But a troop of spirits blest; angelic For when it dawned they dropped spirits, sent down by the in Vocation of the guardian saint. their arms, And clustered round the mast; Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And from their bodies passed. Around, around flew each sweet sound, Then darted to the sun; The polar spirit's fellow demons, the invisible inhabi tants of the element, take part in Lis wrong: Sometimes, a-dropping from the sky, 'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the and two of them relate, one to the other, that long and heavy for the Án By him who died on cross, In the land of mist and snow, man Who shot him with his bow.' The other was a softer voice, Quoth he, 'The man hath penance done, And penance more will do.' cient Mariner, bath been ac corded to the polar spirit, who returneth southward. It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek, Like a meadow-gale of Spring The Mari- "But why drives on that ship so fast, It mingled strangely with my fears, ner hath been cast Without or wave or wind?' motion is As in a gentle weather; retarded; Yet it felt like a welcoming. Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship, Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed We drifted o'er the harbor-bar, the Mar- 'Twas night, calm night-the moon And I with sobs did pray O let me be awake, my God! Or let me sleep alway. The harbor-bay was clear as glass, The pang, the curse, with which they The rock shone bright, the kirk no died, Had never passed away; less That stands above the rock; I could not draw my eyes from theirs, The moonlight steeped in silentness The steady weathercock, is finally expiated. And the Ancient Mariner beholdeth his native country. And the bay was white with silent | He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve- He hath a cushion plump; It is the moss that wholly hides The rotted old oak-stump. The skiff-boat neared-I heard them talk: 'Why, this is strange, I trow! Where are those lights, so many and fair, That signal made but now?' "Strange, by my faith!' the hermit Approach said 'And they answered not our cheer! The planks looked warped! and see those sails, How thin they are and sere! Brown skeletons of leaves that lag When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow, And the owlet whoops to the wolf below, That eats the she-wolf's young.' 'Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look,' The pilot made reply- 'I am a-feared'--'Push on, push on!' Said the hermit cheerily. The boat came closer to the ship, Under the water it rumbled on, eth the ship with wonder. The ship suddenly sinketh RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. door! Upon the whirl where sank the ship | What loud uproar bursts from that I moved my lips-the pilot shrieked The holy hermit raised his eyes, I took the oars; the pilot's boy, His eyes went to and fro: The wedding-guests are there; O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath Alone on a wide, wide sea- O sweeter than the marriage-feast, 'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain IT is sweeter far to me, man!' The hermit crossed his brow: To walk together to the kirk To walk together to the kirk, While each to his great Father Old men, and babes, and loving And youths and maidens gay! Farewell! farewell! but this I tell 'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee He prayeth well who loveth well say What manner of man art thou?' Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best who loveth best Forthwith this frame of mine was All things both great and small; 577 And to teach by his own example, love, and reverence to all things, that God made and loveth. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. |