The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. IN SEVEN PARTS. FACILE credo, plures esse Naturas invisibiles quam visibiles in rerum universitate. Sed horum omnium familiam quis nobis enarrabit, et gradus et cognationes et discrimina et singulorum munera ? Quid agunt? quæ loca habitant? Harum rerum notitiam semper ambivit ingenium humanum, nunquam attigit. Juvat, interea, non diffiteor, quandoque in animo, tanquam in tabulâ, majoris et melioris mundi imaginem contemplari; ne mens assuefacta hodiernæ vitæ minutiis se contrahat nimis, et tota subsidat in pusillas cogitationes. Sed veritati interea invigilandum est, modusque servandus, ut certa ab incertis, diem a nocte, distinguamus. T.-BURNET. ARCHEOL. PHIL. p. 68. PART I. IT is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. An ancient Mariner meeteth three gallants, bid "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, denta Now wherefore stopp'st thou 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." He holds him with his skinny hand, "There was a ship," quoth he. weddingfeast, and detaineth one. “Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!" The wed- He holds him with his glittering eye- ding guest is spellbound by the eye of the old sea And listens like a three years' child: faring man, The Mariner hath his will. and con strained to hear his tale. The Mariner tells how the ship sailed The wedding-guest sat on a stone: He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The ship was cheered, the harbor 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! southward And he shone bright, and on the right with a good wind Went down into the sea. and fair weather till it reached the Line. Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, a. The wed. The bride hath paced into the hall, ding guest heareth the bridal Red as a rose is she; music; but the ma- Nodding their heads before her goes riner con. tinueth his The merry minstrelsy. tale. The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, And thus spake on that ancient man, And now the storm-blast came, and he He struck with his o'ertaking wings. With sloping masts and dipping prow The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And now there came both mist and snow, And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald. And through the drifts the Did send a dismal sheen: snowy clifts Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken- The ice was here, the ice was there, It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound! At length did cross an Albatross, As if it had been a Christian soul, The ship drawn by a storm towards the south pole. 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 receiv It ate the food it ne'er had eat, ed with great joy and hospitality. And lo! the Alba And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit ; And a good south wind sprung up behind; tross prov The Albatross did follow, eth a bird of good omen, and followeth the ship as it returneth north ward through fog and floating ice. The an cient ma And every day, for food or play, In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke Glimmered the white moon-shine. "God save thee, ancient Mariner! riner inhos- From the fiends, that plague thee thus! pitably killeth the pious bird Why look'st thou so?" With my cross of good omen. His ship 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 a hellish thing, mates cry And it would work 'em woe: out against For all averred, I had killed the bird Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay, 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, the ancient Mariner, for killing the bird of good luck. But when the fog cleared off, they justify the same, and thus make themselves accomplices in the crime. The fair breeze con The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, tinues; the The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea! ship enters Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt The ship 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; hath been suddenly becalmed. And the Albatross begins to be aveng ed. |