Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Argument
How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country
towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the
tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell;
and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.
PART I PART II
It is an ancient Mariner, The Sun now rose upon the right:
And he stoppeth one of three. Out of the sea came he,
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Still hid in mist, and on the left
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? Went down into the sea.
The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide, And the good south wind still blew behind,
And I am next of kin; But no sweet bird did follow,
The guests are met, the feast is set: Nor any day for food or play
May'st hear the merry din.' Came to the mariner's hollo!
He holds him with his skinny hand, And I had done a hellish thing,
'There was a ship,' quoth he. And it would work 'em woe:
'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!' For all averred, I had killed the bird
Eftsoons his hand dropt he. That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
He holds him with his glittering eye That made the breeze to blow!
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years' child: Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
The Mariner hath his will. The glorious Sun uprist:
Then all averred, I had killed the bird
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: That brought the fog and mist.
He cannot choose but hear; 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
And thus spake on that ancient man, That bring the fog and mist.
The bright-eyed Mariner.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
'The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared, The furrow followed free;
Merrily did we drop We were the first that ever burst
Below the kirk, below the hill, Into that silent sea.
Below the lighthouse top.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
The Sun came up upon the left, 'Twas sad as sad could be;
Out of the sea came he! And we did speak only to break
And he shone bright, and on the right The silence of the sea!
Went down into the sea.
All in a hot and copper sky,
Higher and higher every day, The bloody Sun, at noon,
Till over the mast at noon' Right up above the mast did stand,
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, No bigger than the Moon.
For he heard the loud bassoon.
Day after day, day after day,
The bride hath paced into the hall, We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
Red as a rose is she; As idle as a painted ship
Nodding their heads before her goes Upon a painted ocean.
The merry minstrelsy.
Water, water, every where,
The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, And all the boards did shrink;
Yet he cannot choose but hear; Water, water, every where,
And thus spake on that ancient man, Nor any drop to drink.
The bright-eyed Mariner.
The very deep did rot: O Christ!
And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he That ever this should be!
Was tyrannous and strong: Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
He struck with his o'ertaking wings, Upon the slimy sea.
And chased us south along.
About, about, in reel and rout
With sloping masts and dipping prow, The death-fires danced at night;
As who pursued with yell and blow The water, like a witch's oils,
Still treads the shadow of his foe, Burnt green, and blue and white.
And forward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And some in dreams assurd were
And southward aye we fled. Of the Spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
And now there came both mist and snow, From the land of mist and snow.
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by, And every tongue, through utter drought,
As green as emerald. Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
And through the drifts the snowy clifts We had been choked with soot.
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
The ice was all between. Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
The ice was here, the ice was there, About my neck was hung.
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!
When looking westward, I beheld I fear thee and thy glittering eye,
A something in the sky. And thy skinny hand, so brown.'
Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
At first it seemed a little speck, This body dropt not down.
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last Alone, alone, all, all alone,
A certain shape, I wist. Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! My soul in agony.
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite, The many men, so beautiful!
It plunged and tacked and veered. And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, Lived on; and so did I.
We could nor laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood! I looked upon the rotting sea,
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And drew my eyes away;
And cried, A sail! a sail! I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call: I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
Gramercy! they for joy did grin, But or ever a prayer had gusht,
And all at once their breath drew in. A wicked whisper came, and made
As they were drinking all. My heart as dry as dust.
See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more! I closed my lids, and kept them close,
Hither to work us weal; And the balls like pulses beat;
Without a breeze, without a tide, For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
She steadies with upright keel! Lay dead like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.
The western wave was all a-flame.
The day was well nigh done! The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
Almost upon the western wave Nor rot nor reek did they:
Rested the broad bright Sun; The look with which they looked on me
When that strange shape drove suddenly Had never passed away.
Betwixt us and the Sun.
An orphan's curse would drag to hell
And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, A spirit from on high;
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!) But oh! more horrible than that
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered Is the curse in a dead man's eye!
With broad and burning face. Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,
And yet I could not die.
Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears! The moving Moon went up the sky,
Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, And no where did abide:
Like restless gossameres? Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside
Are those her ribs through which the Sun
Did peer, as through a grate? Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
And is that Woman all her crew? Like April hoar-frost spread;
Is that a DEATH? and are there two? But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
Is DEATH that woman's mate? The charmd water burnt alway
A still and awful red.
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold: Beyond the shadow of the ship,
Her skin was as white as leprosy, I watched the water-snakes:
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, They moved in tracks of shining white,
Who thicks man's blood with cold. And when they reared, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.
The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice; Within the shadow of the ship
'The game is done! I've won! I've won!' I watched their rich attire:
Quoth she, and whistles thrice. Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out; Was a flash of golden fire.
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea, O happy living things! no tongue
Off shot the spectre-bark. Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
We listened and looked sideways up! And I blessed them unaware:
Fear at my heart, as at a cup, Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
My life-blood seemed to sip! And I blessed them unaware.
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed The self-same moment I could pray;
white; And from my neck so free
From the sails the dew did drip The Albatross fell off, and sank
Till clomb above the eastern bar Like lead into the sea.
The hornd Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
PART V PART VI
Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing, First Voice
Beloved from pole to pole! 'But tell me, tell me! speak again,
To Mary Queen the praise be given! Thy soft response renewing
She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven, What makes that ship drive on so fast?
That slid into my soul. What is the ocean doing?'
And now 'twas like all instruments, The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,
Now like a lonely flute; That stands above the rock:
And now it is an angel's song, The moonlight steeped in silentness
That makes the heavens be mute. The steady weathercock.
It ceased; yet still the sails made on And the bay was white with silent light,
A pleasant noise till noon, Till rising from the same,
A noise like of a hidden brook Full many shapes, that shadows were,
In the leafy month of June, In crimson colours came.
That to the sleeping woods all night
Singeth a quiet tune. A little distance from the prow
Those crimson shadows were:
Till noon we quietly sailed on, I turned my eyes upon the deck
Yet never a breeze did breathe: Oh, Christ! what saw I there!
Slowly and smoothly went the ship,
Moved onward from beneath. Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,
And, by the holy rood!
Under the keel nine fathom deep, A man all light, a seraph-man,
From the land of mist and snow, On every corse there stood.
The spirit slid: and it was he
That made the ship to go. This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
The sails at noon left off their tune, It was a heavenly sight!
And the ship stood still also. They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;
The Sun, right up above the mast,
Had fixed her to the ocean: This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
But in a minute she 'gan stir, No voice did they impart
With a short uneasy motion No voice; but oh! the silence sank
Backwards and forwards half her length Like music on my heart.
With a short uneasy motion.
But soon I heard the dash of oars,
Then like a pawing horse let go, I heard the Pilot's cheer;
She made a sudden bound: My head was turned perforce away
It flung the blood into my head, And I saw a boat appear.
And I fell down in a swound.
The Pilot and the Pilot's boy,
How long in that same fit I lay, I heard them coming fast:
I have not to declare; Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy
But ere my living life returned, The dead men could not blast.
I heard and in my soul discerned
Two voices in the air. I saw a thirdI heard his voice:
It is the Hermit good!
'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man? He singeth loud his godly hymns
By him who died on cross, That he makes in the wood.
With his cruel bow he laid full low He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
The harmless Albatross. The Albatross's blood.
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.