"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 sunk the ship,

The boat spun round and round;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.

"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.

"I took the oars: the pilot's boy,

Who now doth crazy go,

Laugh'd loud and long, and all the while

His eyes went to and fro:

'Ha! ha!' quoth he,- full plain I see The Devil knows how to row!'

"And now, all in my own countree,
I stood on the firm land!

The hermit stepp'd forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.

"O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man! The hermit cross'd his brow:

'Say quick,' quoth he,' I bid thee say What manner of man art thou?'

"Forthwith this frame of mine was wrench'd
With a woeful agony,

Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.

The ancient Mariner is saved in the pilot's boat.

The ancient
Mariner
earnestly en-
treateth the
hermit to
shrieve him,
and the penance
of life falls on
him:

"Since then, at an uncertain hour,

That agony returns;

And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.

66 I like night from land to land:
pass

I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,

I know the man that must hear me:
To him my tale I teach.

"What loud uproar bursts from that door!

The wedding-guests are there :

But in the garden bower the bride

"O wedding-guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide, wide sea;

So lonely 'twas, that God Himself
Scarce seemed there to be.

"O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
'Tis sweeter far to me

To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company!

"To walk together to the kirk,

And all together pray,

While each to his great Father bends,
Old men and babes, and loving friends,
And youths and maidens gay.

"Farewell! farewell! but this I tell,
To thee, thou wedding-guest!
He prayeth well who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

And ever and
anon throughout
his future life,
an agony con-
straineth him to
travel from land
to land,

And to teach, by his own example, love and reverence to all things that God made and loveth.

"He prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God that loveth us,
He made and loveth all."

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,

Is gone; and now the wedding-guest
Turns from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunn'd
And is of sense forlorn :

A sadder and a wiser man

He rose the morrow morn.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

1770-1850.

LAODAMIA.

"With sacrifice before the rising morn
Vows have I made by fruitless hope inspired;
And from the Infernal Gods, 'mid shades forlorn
Of night, my slaughter'd lord have I required.
Celestial pity I again implore :

Restore him to my sight, great Jove! restore !"

So speaking, and by fervent love endow'd

With faith, the Suppliant heavenward lifts her hands; While, like the sun emerging from a cloud,

Her countenance brightens and her eye expands;
Her bosom heaves and spreads, her stature grows :
And she expects the issue in repose.

O terror! what hath she perceived? O joy!
What doth she look on? whom doth she behold?
Her Hero slain upon the beach of Troy?

His vital presence, his corporeal mould?

It is, if sense deceive her not! 'Tis he!
And a God leads him, winged Mercury.

Mild Hermes spake, and touch'd her with his wand
That calms all fear: "Such grace hath crown'd thy prayer,
Laodamia! that at Jove's command

Thy husband walks the paths of upper air:

He comes to tarry with thee three hours' space;
Accept the gift !—behold him face to face!"

Forth sprang the impassion'd Queen her lord to clasp ;—
Again that consummation she essay'd;
But unsubstantial Form eludes her grasp
As often as that eager grasp was made :
The Phantom parts, but parts to re-unite
And re-assume his place before her sight.

"Protesilaùs! lo thy guide is gone :

Confirm, I pray the vision with thy voice!
This is our palace, yonder is thy throne :
Speak! and the floor thou treadst on will rejoice.
Not to appal me have the Gods bestow'd
This precious boon, and bless'd a sad abode."

"Great Jove, Laodamia! doth not leave
His gifts imperfect. Spectre though I be,
I am not sent to scare thee or deceive,-
But in reward of thy fidelity;

And something also did my worth obtain,-
For fearless virtue bringeth boundless gain.

"Thou knowest the Delphic Oracle foretold
That the first Greek who touch'd the Trojan strand
Should die; but me the threat could not withhold.
A generous cause a victim did demand;
And forth I leap'd upon the sandy plain,
A self-devoted chief,-by Hector slain.”

66

Supreme of Heroes! bravest, noblest, best!
Thy matchless courage I bewail no more,

Which then, when tens of thousands were depress'd
By doubt, propell'd thee to the fatal shore.
Thou found'st (and I forgive thee-here thou art)
A nobler counselor than my poor heart.

"But thou, though capable of sternest deed,
Wert kind as resolute, and good as brave;
And he, whose power restores thee, hath decreed
Thou shouldst elude the malice of the grave:
Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as fair

As when their breath enrich'd Thessalian air.

"No spectre greets me, no vain shadow this,—
Come, blooming Hero! place thee by my side!
Give, on this well-known couch, one nuptial kiss
To me, this day a second time thy bride!"
Jove frown'd in heaven; the conscious Parca threw
Upon those roseate lips a Stygian hue.

"This visage tells thee that my doom is past :

Nor should the change be mourn'd, even if the joys Of sense were able to return as fast

And surely as they vanish. Earth destroys

Those raptures duly, Erebus disdains :
Calm pleasures there abide, majestic pains.

"Be taught, O faithful consort! to controul

Rebellious passions! for the Gods approve
The depth, and not the tumult, of the soul,-
A fervent, not ungovernable, love.
Thy transports moderate; and meekly mourn
When I depart! for brief is my sojourn."

"Ah! wherefore? Did not Hercules by force

Wrest from the guardian monster of the tomb