'Within the shadow of the ship I watch'd their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coil'd and swam; and every track Was a flash of golden fire. 'O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare : A spring of love gush'd from my heart, Sure my kind saint took pity on me, The selfsame moment I could pray ; my neck so free And from The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea. PART V 'O sleep! it is a gentle thing, Beloved from pole to pole ! To Mary Queen the praise be given ! She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven That slid into my soul. 'The silly buckets on the deck That had so long remain'd, I dreamt that they were fill'd with dew; And when I awoke, it rain'd. 'My lips were wet, my throat was cold, My garments all were dank; Sure I had drunken in my dreams, And still my body drank. 'I moved, and could not feel my limbs : I thought that I had died in sleep, ' And soon I heard a roaring wind : But with its sound it shook the sails, 'The upper air burst into life! To and fro, they were hurried about ; The wan stars danced between. 'And the coming wind did roar more loud, And the sails did sigh like sedge ; And the rain pour'd down from one black cloud; The Moon was at its edge. 'The thick black cloud was cleft, and still The Moon was at its side: Like waters shot from some high crag, The lightning fell with never a jag, 'The loud wind never reach'd the ship, Yet now the ship moved on! Beneath the lightning and the Moon The dead men gave a groan. "They groan'd, they stirr'd, they all uprose Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; It had been strange, e'en in a dream, To have seen those dead men rise. sere] withered and dry. sheen] adj., bright. wan] pale. 'The helmsman steer'd; the ship moved on; Yet never a breeze up-blew; The mariners all work the ropes, gan Where they were wont to do ; They raised their limbs like lifeless tools We were a ghastly crew. 'The body of my brother's son I fear thee, ancient Mariner!' - Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest! 'Twas not those souls that fled in pain Which to their corses came again, But a troop of spirits blest : 'For when it dawn'd they dropp'd their arms, And cluster'd round the mast; Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And from their bodies pass'd. Around, around, flew each sweet sound, Then darted to the Sun; Slowly the sounds came back again, Now mix'd, now one by one. 'Sometimes a-dropping from the sky I heard the skylark sing; Sometimes all little birds that are, How they seem'd to fill the sea and air corses] corpses. jargoning] warbling. 'And now 'twas like all instruments, Now like a lonely flute; And now it is an angel's song, That makes the heavens be mute. 'It ceased; yet still the sails made on A pleasant noise till noon, A noise like of a hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night 'Till noon we quietly sail'd on, 'Under the keel nine fathom deep, The sails at noon left off their tune, And the ship stood still also. 'The Sun, right up above the mast, Had fix'd her to the ocean : But in a minute she gan stir, With a short uneasy motion Backwards and forwards half her length, With a short uneasy motion. 'Then like a pawing horse let go, She made a sudden bound : It flung the blood into my head, And I fell down in a swound. 'How long in that same fit I lay, I have not to declare; But ere my living life return'd, I heard, and in my soul discern'd "Is it he?" quoth one," is this the man? By Him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross. "The Spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow." 'The other was a softer voice, As soft as honey-dew: Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do." PART VI First Voice "But tell me, tell me! speak again, Thy soft response renewing What makes that ship drive on so fast? 666 Second Voice Still as a slave before his lord, The Ocean hath no blast; His great bright eye most silently Up to the Moon is cast penance] punishment to do away sin. |