"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; And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea; The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, The Bride hath paced into the hall- Nodding their heads before her goes The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner: The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward, with a good wind and fair weather, till it reached the line. The Wedding- tale. "And now the Storm-blast came, and he The ship drawn Was tyrannous and strong; He struck with his o'ertaking wings, And chased us south along. With sloping masts and dipping prow As who pursued with yell and blow And forward bends his head by a storm toward the south pole. The land of ice seen. Till a great seabird, called the Albatross, came through the snow-fog, and was received with great joy and hospitality. And lo! the Al batross proveth a bird of good omen, and fol loweth the ship as it returned northward through fog The ship drove fast; loud roared the blast, And southward aye we fled. And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold; And ice, mast-high, came floating by, And through the drifts the snowy cliffs 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, Like noises in a swound! At length did cross an Albatross- As if it had been a Christian soul, It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And round and round it flew. The ice did split with a thunder-fit; And a good south wind sprung up be hind; The Albatross did follow, and floating ice. And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariners' hollo! |