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THE RHYME

OF

THE ANCIENT MARINER.

IN SEVEN PARTS.

PART I.

Ir is an Ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three:

66 By thy long grey beard and thy glittering eye Now wherefore stoppest me?

The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin ;

The guests are met, the feast is set,—
May'st hear the merry din."

But still he holds the wedding-guest-
"There was a ship," quoth he―
66 Nay, if thou'st got a laughsome tale,
Mariner! come with me."

He holds him with his skinny hand,
Quoth he, "There was a ship”—
"Now get thee hence, thou grey-beard loon!
Or my staff shall make thee skip."

He holds him with his glittering eye-
The wedding-guest stood still

B

And listens like a three years' child
The Mariner hath his will.

The wedding-guest sate on a stone,
He cannot choose but hear:

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

"The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared

Merrily did we drop

Below the kirk, below the hill,

Below the light-house top.

The sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he:

And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

Higher and higher every day,

Till over the mast at noon”.

The wedding-guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon.

The bride hath paced into the hall,
Red as a rose is she;

Nodding their heads before her go
The merry minstrelsy.

The wedding-guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear:
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner :

"But now the north wind came more fierce,

There came a tempest strong!

And southward still for days and weeks

Like chaff we drove along

And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:

And ice mast-high came floating by

As

green as emerald.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen;

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken-
The ice was all between.

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around:

It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd, A wild and ceaseless sound.

At length did cross an albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.

The Mariners gave it biscuit-worms.
And round and round it flew :
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through.

And a good south wind sprung up behind,
The albatross did follow;

And every day for food or play

Came to the Mariner's hollo!

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud
It perched for vespers nine,

Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white
Glimmer'd the white moon-shine."

"God save thee, Ancient Mariner!

From the fiends that plague thee thus !

Why look'st thou so?"-" With my cross bow I shot the albatross."

PART II.

"The sun now rose upon the right,

Out of the sea came he;

Still hid in mist; and on the left
Went down into the sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,

Nor any day for food or play
Came to the Mariner's hollo!

And I had done an hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.

Nor dim nor red, like an angel's head,
The glorious sun uprist;

Then all averred, I had killed the bird
That brought the fog and mist.
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay
That bring the fog and mist.

The breezes blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free:

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

Down dropp'd the breeze, the sails dropp'd down,

'Twas sad as sad could be,

And we did speak only to break

The silence of the sea.

All in a hot and copper sky

The bloody sun at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion,

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The very deeps did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.

About, about, in reel and rout

The death-fires danced at night;

The water, like a witch's oils,

Burnt green, and blue, and white.

And some in dreams assured were

Of the spirit that plagued us so : Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow.

And every tongue through utter drought Was wither'd at the root;

We could not speak no more than if

We had been choked with soot.

Ah well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!

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