28.

'There passed a weary time.

Each throat

Was parched, and glazed each eye.

A weary time! a weary time!

How glazed each weary eye! When looking westward I beheld A something in the sky.

29.

'At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;

It moved, and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.

30.

'A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!

And still it neared and neared:

As if it dodged a water-sprite,

It plunged, and tacked, and veered.

31.

6

'See! see!' I cried, she tacks no more

Hither to work us weal,

Without a breeze, without a tide,

She steadies with upright keel!

32.

'The western wave was all a-flame, The day was well-nigh done, Almost upon the western wave

Rested the broad, bright sun :

When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the sun.

33.

'And straight the sun was flecked with barsHeaven's mother send us grace !—

As if through a dungeon grate he peered

With broad and burning face.

34.

'Alas! thought I, and my heart beat loud,
How fast she nears and nears!

Are those her sails that glance in the sun,
Like restless gossameres?

35.

'Are those her ribs through which the sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that woman all her crew?

Is that a Death? and are there two?

Is Death that woman's mate?

36.

'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.

37.

'The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out,

At one stride comes the dark; With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea Off shot the spectre-bark.

38.

'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
Within the nether tip.

39.

'Four times fifty living men

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan), With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one.

40.

'The souls did from their bodies fly

They fled to bliss or woe!

And every soul it passed me by

Like the whizz of my cross-bow!

41.

'The many men so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.

42.

'I looked upon the rotting sea,
And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.

43.

'I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
But or ever a prayer had gushed,
A wicked whisper came, and made
My heart as dry as dust.

44.

'The moving moon went up the sky,

And nowhere did abide :

Softly she was going up,

And a star or two beside.

45.

'Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes;

They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes.

46.

"Within the shadow of the ship

I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam ; and every
Was a flash of golden fire.

47.

"O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare:

track

A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.

48.

'The self-same moment I could pray ;
And from my neck so free
The albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.

49.

'And soon I heard a roaring wind:

It did not come a-near;

But with its sound it shook the sails
That were so thin and sere.

50.

'The loud wind never reached the ship,
Yet now the ship moved on!
Beneath the lightning and the moon

The dead men gave a groan.

51.

They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,
Nor spake nor moved their eyes;

It had been strange, even in a dream,
To have seen these dead men rise.

52.

'The helmsman steered, the ship moved on,

Yet never a breeze upblew;

The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
Where they were wont to do;

They raised their limbs like lifeless tools—
We were a ghastly crew.'

53.

'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!'

Be calm, thou wedding-guest!

'Twas not those souls that fled in pain, Which to their corses came again,

But a troop of spirits blest.

54.

'Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too :
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze-
On me alone it blew.

55.

'Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed
The light-house top I see?
Is this the hill? is this the kirk?
Is this mine own countree?

56.

'Since then, at an uncertain hour,

That agony returns :

And till my ghastly tale is told,

This heart within me burns.

57.

'I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,

I know the man that must hear me :
To him my tale I teach.