And through the drifts, the snowy clifts Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken- The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around; It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, At length did cross an albatross, It ate the food it ne'er had ate, And a good south wind sprung up behind; And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariners' hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud It perched for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, 'God save thee, ancient Mariner, From the fiends that plague thee thus! Why look'st thou so? With my cross-bow The land of ice and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen. Till a great sea-bird, called the albatross, came through the snow-fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality. And, lo! the albatross proveth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returned northward through fog and floating ice. The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen. 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 mariners' hollo! Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, The ship hath been 'Twas sad as sad could be ; suddenly becalmed. 1 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: alas! That ever this should be; Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs About, about, in reel and rout, And the albatross be- A With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, Through utter drought all dumb we stood; And cried: 'A sail! a sail !' With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, Agape they heard me call; Gramercy! they for joy did grin, A Spirit had followed them, one of the invisible inhabitants of this planet, neither departed souls nor angels; concerning whom the learned Jew, Josephus, and the Platonic Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus, may be consulted. They are very numerous, and there is no climate or element without one or more. The shipmates, in their sore distress, would fain throw the whole guilt on the ancient Mariner; in sign whereof they hang the dead sea-bird around his neck. The ancient Mariner beholdeth a sign in the element afar off. At the nearer apseemeth proach, it him to be a ship, and at a dear ransom he freeth his speech from the bonds of thirst. A flash of joy. See! see!' I cried, 'she tacks no more! Without a breeze, without a tide, The western wave was all aflame, When that strange shape drove suddenly And straight the sun was flecked with bars, As if through a dungeon grate he peered Alas! thought I, and my heart beat loud, Are those her sails that glance in the sun, Are those her ribs through which the sun Is that a Death? and are there two? Her lips were red, her looks were free, The naked hulk alongside came, The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out, We listened and looked sideways up; My life-blood seemed to sip. And horror follows; for can it be a ship that comes onward without wind or tide? It seemeth him but the skeleton of a ship. And its ribs are seen as bars on the face of the setting sun-the spectre woman and her death-mate, and no other, on board the skeleton ship. Like vessel, like crew. Death, and Life-inDeath, have diced for the ship's crew; she, the latter, winneth the ancient Mariner. No twilight within the courts of the sun. |
