"Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, Then all averred I had killed the bird "Twas right,' said they,' such birds to slay That bring the fog and mist.' "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free: We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. "Down dropt the breeze; the sails dropt 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; Upon a painted ocean. "Water, water, everywhere! And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere! Nor any drop to drink. "The very deep did rot: O Christ, That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs "About, about, in reel and rout, "And some in dreams assured were "And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root: We could not speak no more than if We had been choked with soot. "Ah, well a-day! what evil looks "The naked hulk alongside came; And the twain were casting dice: 'The game is done; I've won, I've won !' Quoth she, and whistles thrice. "The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out; With far-heard whisper o'er the sea, “We listened, and looked sideways up: Fear at my heart, as at a cup, My life-blood seemed to sip. The stars were dim, and thick the night; The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white; From the sails the dew did drip; Till clomb above the eastern bar The horned moon, with one bright star "One after one, by the star-dogged moon, Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, "Four times fifty living men, "The souls did from their bodics fly; PART IV. "I fear thee, ancient mariner; I fear thy skinny hand; And thou art long and lank and brown As is the ribbed sea-sand. “I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand so brown." "Fear not, fear not, thou wedding-guest : This body dropped not down. "Alone, alone, all, all alone, "The many men so beautiful!. And they all dead did lie; And a thousand thousand slimy things "I looked upon the rotting sea, "I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust. "I closed my lids, and kept them close, And the balls like pulses beat; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky, Lay like a load on my weary eye; And the dead were at my feet. "The cold sweat melted from their limbs, Nor rot nor reek did they : The look with which they looked on me Had never passed away. "An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But, oh! more horrible than that Is the curse in a dead man's eye. Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse; And yet I could not die. "The moving moon went up the sky, And nowhere did abide; Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside. "Her beams bemocked the sultry main Like April hoar-frost spread; But, where the ship's huge shadow lay, The charmed water burnt alway "Beyond the shadow of the ship I watched the water-snakes : They moved in tracks of shining white; "Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track "O happy, living things! no tongue A spring of love gushed from my heart, "The self-same moment I could pray; The albatross fell off, and sank 666 Strange, by my faith!' the hermit said; And they answered not our cheer. The planks looked warped; and see those sails, How thin they are, and sear! I never saw aught like to them, Unless perchance it were “Brown skeletons of leaves that lag My forest-brook along, When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow, And the owlet whoops to the wolf below "Dear Lord, it hath a fiendish look,' I am a-feared.' - Push on, push on !' |