It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

‘By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?

The Bridegroom's door are opened wide,

And I am next of kin° ; Nearest relation

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May'st hear the merry din° .' Cheerful noise

He holds him with his skinny hand,

'There was a ship,' quoth° he. Said

'Hold off! Unhand me, grey-beard loon° !' Lazy fellow

Eftsoons° his hand dropped he. Soon after

He holds him with his glittering eye-

The Wedding-Guest stood still,

And listens like a three years' child:

The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:

The cannot choose but hear° ; Is forced to listen

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright- eyed Mariner.

And now there came both mist and snow,

And it grew wondrous cold:

And ice, mast-high, came floating by,

As green as emerald.

And trough the drifts° the snowy clifts° Snow-stroms rocks

Did send a dismal sheen° : Gloomy brightness

Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken° - Saw

The ice was all between.

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° !, Faint, swoon

At length did cross a n Albatross,

Thorough° the fog it came; Through

As if it had been a Christian soul,

We hailed° it in God's name. Greeted

It ate the food it ne'er had eat,

And round and round it flew.

The ice did split with a thunder-fit;

The helmsman steered us through!

And a good south wind sprung up behind;

The Albatross did follow,

And every day, for food or play,

Came to the mariner's hollo° ! Call

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud° , Ropes

It perched° for vespers nine° Sat . nine nights

Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white

Glimmered the white moon-shine.'

'God save thee, ancient Mariner!

From the fiends° , that plague thee thus!- Devils

Why look'st thou so?' - 'With my cross-bow

I shot the Albatross.'

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 of play

Came to the Mariners' hollo!

And I had done a hellish thing

And it would work 'em woe° : Bring them trouble

For all averred° , I had killed the bird Declared

That made the breeze to blow.

Ah wretch° ! Said they, the bird to slay

That made the breeze to blow!

Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,

The glorious Sun uprist: The all averred, I had killed the bird

That brought the fog and mist.

'T was right, said they, such birds to slay,

That bring the fog and mist.

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free;

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,

'T was sad as sad could be;

And we did speak only to break

The silence of the sea!

All in a hot 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; As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink: Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep° did rot: O Christ! The sea itself

That ever this should be!

Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs

Upon the slimy sea.

About, about, in reel and rout° Spinning wildly

The death-fires danced at night;

The water, like a witch's oils,

Burnt green, and blue and white.

And some in dreams assured were

Of the Spirit that plagued us so;

Nine fathom deep he had followed us (1,82 m)

From the land of mist and snow.

And every tongue, through utter drought° , Dryness

Was withered° at the root; Dried out, shrunk

We could not speak, no more than in

We had been choked with soot.

Ah! well-a-day° ! What evil looks Alas

Had I from old and young!

Instead of the cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung.

We listened and looked sideways up!

Fear at my heart, as at a cup,

My life-blood seemed to sip° ! Drink up

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° Climbed horizon

The horned° moon, with one bright star Formed like a horn

Within the nether tip.

One after on, by the star-dodded° moon, Follwed by stars

Too quick for groan or sigh,

Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, Terrible pain

And cursed me with his eye.

Four times fifty living men,

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)

With heavy thump, a lifeless lump° , Dead body

They dropped down one by one.

Their souls did from their bodies fly, -

The fled to bliss or woe° Heaven or hell

And every soul, it passed me by,

Like the whizz of my cross-bow! The sound

I fear thee, ancient Mariner!

I fear thy skinny hand!

And thou art long, and lank° , and brown, Thin

As is the ribbed sea-sand.

I fear thee and thy glittering eye,

And thy skinny hand, so brown' -

Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!

This body dropt not down.

Alone, alone, all, all alone,

Alone on a wide, wide sea!

And never a saint took pity on

My soul in agony° Great pain

The many men, so beautiful!

And they all dead did lie:

And a thousand thousand slimy things

Lived on; and so did I.

I looked upon the rotting sea,

And drew my eyes away;

I looked upon the rotting deck,

And there the dead men lay.

I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;

But or° ever a prayer had gusht, Before risen

A wicked whisper came, and made Evil

My heart as dry as dust.

I closed my lids, and kept the close, Eyelids

And the balls like pulses beat;

For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky

Lay like a load on my weary eye,

And the dead were at my feet.

The cold sweat melted from their limbs,

Nor rot nor reek° did they: Smell

The look with which they looked on me

Had never passed away.

An orphan's curse would drag to hell

A spirit from on high;

But oh! More horrible than that

Is th curse in a dead man's eye!

Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,

And yet I could not die.

The moving Moon went up the sky,

And no where did abide° : Stay

Softly she was going up,

And a star or two beside-

Her beams bemocked° the sultry main° , hot sea

Like April hoar-frost° spread;

The charmed water burnt alway

A still and awful red.

Beyond the shadow of the ship,

I watched the water-snakes:

The moved in tracks of shining white,

And when they reared, the elfish light Rose

Fell off in hoary flakes.

Within the shadow of the ship,

I watched their rich attire° : Appearance

Blue glossy green, and velvet black,

They coiled and swam; and every track Curled round

Was a flash of golden fire.

O happy living things! No tongue

Their beauty might declare:

A spring of love gushed from my heart,

And I blessed the unaware;

Sure my kind saint took pity on me,

And I blessed the unaware.

The self-same° moment I could pray; That very

And from my neck so free

The albatross fell off, and sank

Like lead into the sea.

Part VII

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched At once body twisted

With a woeful agony, Terrible pain

Which forced me to begin my tale;

And then it left me free.

Since ten, at an uncertain hour,

That agony returns:

And still my ghastly tale is told,

This heart within me burns.

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.

Heat loud uproar burst from that door! Noise

The Wedding-Guests are there:

But in the garden-bower the bride

And bride-maids singing are:

And hark° the little vesper bell, Listen to

Which biddeth me to prayer!

O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been

Alone on a wide wide sea:

So lonely 'twas, that God himself

Scarce seemed there to be.

O sweeter far to me,

To walk together to the kirk° Church

With a goodly company!

To walk together to the kirk,

And all together pray,

While all to his great Father bends° , Kneels

Old men, and babes, and loving friends

And youths and maidens gay!

Farewell, farewell! But this I tell

To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!

He prayeth well, who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best

All things both great and small;

For the dear God who loveth us,

He made and loveth all.

The mariner, whose eye is bright,

Whose beard whit age is hoar° , Grey

Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest

Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned

And is of sense forlorn° : Has lost his mind

A sadder and a wiser man,

He rose the morrow morn° . Next morning

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)