Lyrical Ballads with Other Poems, 1800 Volume I Part 14

The upper air burst into life And a hundred fire-flags sheen To and fro they were hurried about; And to and fro, and in and out The wan stars danc'd between.

And the coming wind did roar more loud; And the sails did sigh like sedge: And the rain pour'd down from one black cloud The moon was at its edge.

The thick black cloud was cleft, and still The Moon was at its side: Like waters shot from some high crag, The lightning fell, with never a jag A river steep and wide.

The loud wind never reach'd the s.h.i.+p, Yet now the s.h.i.+p mov'd on!

Beneath the lightning and the moon The dead men gave a groan.

They groan'd; they stirr'd, they all uprose, Nor spake, nor mov'd their eyes: It had been strange, even in a dream To have seen those dead men rise,

The helmsman steerd, the s.h.i.+p mov'd on; Yet never a breeze up-blew; The Mariners all gan work the ropes, Where they were wont to do: They rais'd their limbs like lifeless tools-- We were a ghastly crew.

The body of my brother's son Stood by me knee to knee: The body and I pull'd at one rope, But he said nought to me.

"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:"

"For when it dawn'd--they dropp'd their arms, And cl.u.s.ter'd round the mast: Sweet sounds rose slowly thro' their mouths And from their bodies pa.s.s'd."

Around, around, flew each sweet sound, Then darted to the sun: Slowly the sounds came back again Now mix'd, now one by one.

Sometimes a dropping from the sky I heard the Sky-lark sing; Sometimes all little birds that are How they seem'd to fill the sea and air With their sweet jargoning.

And now 'twas like all instruments, Now like a lonely flute; And now it is an angel's song That makes the heavens be mute.

It ceas'd: yet still the sails made on A pleasant noise till noon, A noise like of a hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night, Singeth a quiet tune.

Till noon we silently sail'd on Yet never a breeze did breathe: Slowly and smoothly went the s.h.i.+p Mov'd onward from beneath.

Under the keel nine fathom deep From the land of mist and snow The spirit slid: and it was He That made the s.h.i.+p to go.

The sails at noon left off their tune And the s.h.i.+p stood still also.

The sun right up above the mast Had fix'd her to the ocean: But in a minute she 'gan stir With a short uneasy motion-- Backwards and forwards half her length With a short uneasy motion.

Then, like a pawing horse let go, She made a sudden bound: It flung the blood into my head, And I fell into a swound.

How long in that same fit I lay, I have not to declare; But ere my living life return'd, I heard and in my soul discern'd Two voices in the air.

"Is it he?" quoth one, "Is this the man?

By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he lay'd full low The harmless Albatross."

"The spirit who 'bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He lov'd the bird that lov'd the man Who shot him with his bow."

The other was a softer voice, As soft as honey-dew: Quoth he the man hath penance done, And penance more will do.

VI.

FIRST VOICE.

"But tell me, tell me! speak again, Thy soft response renewing-- What makes that s.h.i.+p drive on so fast?

What is the Ocean doing?"

SECOND VOICE.

"Still as a Slave before his Lord, The Ocean hath no blast: His great bright eye most silently Up to the moon is cast--"

"If he may know which way to go, For she guides him smooth or grim, See, brother, see! how graciously She looketh down on him."

FIRST VOICE.

"But why drives on that s.h.i.+p so fast Without or wave or wind?"

SECOND VOICE.

"The air is cut away before, And closes from behind."

"Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high, Or we shall be belated: For slow and slow that s.h.i.+p will go, When the Mariner's trance is abated."

I woke, and we were sailing on As in a gentle weather: 'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high; The dead men stood together.

All stood together on the deck, For a charnel-dungeon fitter: All fix'd on me their stony eyes That in the moon did glitter.

The pang, the curse, with which they died, Had never pa.s.s'd away; I could not draw my eyes from theirs Nor turn them up to pray.

And now this spell was snapt: once more I view'd the ocean green, And look'd far forth, yet little saw Of what had else been seen.

Like one, that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turn'd round, walks on And turns no more his head: Because he knows, a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread.

But soon there breath'd a wind on me, Nor sound nor motion made: Its path was not upon the sea In ripple or in shade.

It rais'd my hair, it fann'd my cheek, Like a meadow-gale of spring-- It mingled strangely with my fears, Yet it felt like a welcoming.

Swiftly, swiftly flew the s.h.i.+p Yet she sail'd softly too: Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze-- On me alone it blew.

O 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?

We drifted o'er the Harbour-bar, And I with sobs did pray-- "O let me be awake, my G.o.d!

Or let me sleep alway!"

The harbour-bay was clear as gla.s.s, So smoothly it was strewn!

And on the bay the moonlight lay, And the shadow of the moon.

The rock shone bright, the kirk no less: That stands above the rock: The moonlight steep'd in silentness The steady weatherc.o.c.k.