6.66 If he may know which way to go; For she guides him smooth or grim. See, brother, see! how graciously She looketh down on him." First Voice "But why drives on that ship so fast, Without or wave or wind?" Second Voice 6.66 The air is cut away before, And closes from behind. Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high ! For slow and slow that ship will go, 'I woke, and we were sailing on As in a gentle weather: 'Twas night, calm night, the Moon was high; The dead men stood together. 'All stood together on the deck, 'The pang, the curse with which they died, Had never pass'd away : I could not draw my eyes from theirs, Nor turn them And now this spell was snapt once more: I view'd the ocean green, And look'd far forth, yet little saw Of what had else been seen 'Like one that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turn'd round, walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread. 'But soon there breathed a wind on me, Nor sound nor motion made: Its path was not upon the sea, In ripple or in shade. 'It raised my hair, it fann'd my cheek It mingled strangely with my fears, Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship, 'Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed Is this the hill? is this the kirk ? 'We drifted o'er the harbour-bar, And I with sobs did pray O let me be awake, my God! Or let me sleep alway. "The harbour-bay was clear as glass, So smoothly it was strewn ! And on the bay the moonlight lay, And the shadow of the Moon. 'The rock shone bright, the kirk no less, That stands above the rock : The moonlight steep'd in silentness The steady weathercock. 'And the bay was white with silent light, Till, rising from the same, Full many shapes, that shadows were, In crimson colours came. Those crimson shadows were: I turn'd my eyes upon the deck— O Christ! what saw I there! 'Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat, And, by the holy rood! A man all light, a seraph-man, On every corse there stood. 'This seraph-band, each waved his hand : It was a heavenly sight! They stood as signals to the land, Each one a lovely light : "This seraph-band, each waved his hand, No voice did they impart No voice; but oh! the silence sank Like music on my heart. 'But soon I heard the dash of oars, I heard the Pilot's cheer; My head was turn'd perforce away, And I saw a boat appear. 'The Pilot and the Pilot's boy, Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy 'I saw a third-I heard his voice: He singeth loud his godly hymns He'll shrieve my soul, he 'll wash away PART VII 'This Hermit good lives in that wood Which slopes down to the sea. How loudly his sweet voice he rears ! He loves to talk with marineres That come from a far countree. '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 near'd: I heard them talk, "Why, this is strange, I trow! Where are those lights so many and fair, That signal made but now?' 66 "Strange, by my faith," the Hermit said And they answer'd not our cheer! The planks look warp'd! and see those sails, How thin they are and sere ! I never saw aught like to them, Unless perchance it were blast] destroy. shrieve] cleanse from sin. trow] think truly *. ""Brown skeletons of leaves that lag When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow, Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look " (The Pilot made reply) 66 66 I am a-fear'd."- Push on, push on!' Said the Hermit cheerily. 'The boat came closer to the ship, The boat came close beneath the ship, 'Under the water it rumbled on, It reach'd the ship, it split the bay; 'Stunn'd by that loud and dreadful sound, Which sky and ocean smote, Like one that hath been seven days drown'd My body lay afloat; But swift as dreams, myself I found Within the Pilot's boat. 'Upon the whirl, where sank the ship, The boat spun round and round; 'I moved my lips-the Pilot shriek'd And fell down in a fit : The holy Hermit raised his eyes, And pray'd where he did sit. tod] bush. |