"This Hermit good lives in that wood
Which slopes down to the sea. 515
How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
He loves to talk with marineres
That come from a far countree.
"He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve--
He hath a cushion plump: 520
It is the moss that wholly hides
The rotted old oak-stump.
"The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,
'Why, this is strange, I trow![59]
Where are those lights so many and fair, 525
That signal made but now?'
"'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said--
'And they answered not our cheer.
The planks look warped! and see those sails,
How thin they are and sere! 530
I never saw aught like to them,
Unless perchance it were
"'Brown skeletons of leaves that lag
My forest-brook along;
When the ivy-tod[60] is heavy with snow, 535
And the owlet whoops to the wolf below,
That eats the she-wolf's young.'
"'Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look--
(The Pilot made reply)
I am afeared,'[61]--'Push on, push on!' 540
Said the Hermit cheerily.
"The boat came closer to the ship,
But I nor spake nor stirred;
The boat came close beneath the ship,
And straight a sound was heard. 545
"Under the water it rumbled on,
Still louder and more dread:
It reached the ship, it split the bay:
The ship went down like lead.
"Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound, 550
Which sky and ocean smote;
Like one that hath been seven days drowned
My body lay afloat;
But, swift as dreams, myself I found
Within the Pilot's boat. 555
"Upon the whirl, where sank the ship,
The boat spun round and round;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.
"I moved my lips --the Pilot shrieked 560
And fell down in a fit;
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
And prayed where he did sit.
"I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
Who now doth crazy go, 565
Laughed loud and long, and all the while
His eyes went to and fro.
'Ha! Ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see,
The Devil knows how to row.'
"And now, all in my own countree, 570
I stood on the firm land!
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.
"'O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!'
The Hermit crossed his brow.[62] 575
'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say--
What manner of man art thou?'
"Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woeful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale; 580
And then it left me free.
"Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns:
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns. 585
"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. 590
"What loud uproar bursts from that door!
The wedding-guests are there:
But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are:
And hark the little vesper bell,[63] 595
Which biddeth me to prayer.
"O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea:
So lonely 't was, that God himself
Scarce seemed there to be. 600
"O sweeter than the marriage feast,
'T is sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company!--
"To walk together to the kirk, 605
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends,
And youths and maidens gay!
"Farewell, farewell! but this I tell 610
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; 615
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."
The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest 620
Turned from the Bridegroom's door.
He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:[64]
A sadder and a wiser man
He rose the morrow morn. 625
NOTE.--The Ancient Mariner was written in 1797. The plot was suggested
by a dream related to Coleridge by one of his friends. While the story
is his own invention, he took several points from Shelvocke's Voyages
and accepted a few hints from Wordsworth, who furnished also two or
three lines of verse. In the beginning the two poets intended to work
together, but this plan was found impracticable, and Coleridge
proceeded by himself. It is easy to believe that the plot originated
in a dream, for the completed poem is one of the strangest, most
fantastic dreams that ever formed themselves in a poet's brain. So far
as its moral import is concerned, the production will hardly bear close
scrutiny, although it teaches the duty of loving all God's creatures,
both great and small. The prolonged suffering of the Mariner is a
punishment far too severe for his thoughtless act, while his four times
fifty comrades, who endure horrible tortures before dying, have been
guilty of no crime whatsoever. Still it is not necessary that every
piece of literature should teach a consistent moral lesson, and _The
Ancient Mariner_ can be enjoyed for its marvelous pictures and its
weird melody.
The form chosen by Coleridge for his production, that of the mediaeval
ballad, is peculiarly adapted to story-telling on account of the
freedom which it allows, and it has never been more artistically used
than in this instance. In harmony with the ballad form the poet uses
certain old words, such as "trow," "wist," and "countree." It will be
seen that the stanzas vary in length, and that there are occasional
irregularities in metre. In general the first and third lines of a
stanza have four feet each, while the second and fourth lines have
three feet. Only the second and fourth lines rhyme, unless the stanza
consists of more than four lines.
[1.] Next of kin, nearest relative.
[2.] Quoth, said.
[3.] Loon, worthless fellow.
[4.] Eftsoons, at once, immediately; a favorite word with the poet
Spenser.
[5.] And listens, etc. Wordsworth wrote this line and the line
following.
[6.] Kirk, church.
[7.] The Sun came up upon the left. This would be the case if a vessel
were going from England, for instance, toward the equator; and each day
the sun would be more nearly overhead.
[8.] And now there came both mist and snow. They were nearing the
south pole.
[9.] Clifts, clefts, cracks.
[10.] Ken, discern.
[11.] Swound, swoon, fainting fit.
[12.] Albatross. The albatross, the largest of sea birds, is found
chiefly in the southern hemisphere, and because of its strength in
flight is often seen far from land.
[13.] Thorough, through.
[14.] Shroud. The shrouds are sets of ropes which serve as stays for
the masts of a vessel.
[15.] Vespers nine, _i.e._ nine evenings. _Vesper_ and _Hesperus_ are
names given to the evening star, especially to the planet Venus when it
appears in the west soon after sunset. Consult the dictionary for
other meanings of the word _vesper_.
[16.] Whiles, meanwhile.
[17.] The Sun now rose upon the right. This indicates that the vessel
had turned about and was going northward. The poet says in his notes
that she soon entered the Pacific Ocean.
[18.] Nor dim nor red, etc. The sun now rose clear and bright, and not
dim or red, as when seen through mist or fog; and the sailors justified
the Mariner, thinking that by his act the fog had been dispersed.
Uprist means _uprose_.
[19.] The furrow followed free, i.e. the track, or wake, left by the
ship appeared to be gladly following her.
[20.] That silent sea. The vessel had reached the equator.
[21.] Death-fires. There is a superstition that death is sometimes
foreshadowed by death-fires or fetch-lights. In this instance the
fires presaged the death of the sailors.
[22.] The spirit that plagued us so. This was "the lonesome spirit
from the south pole," who was seeking revenge for the death of the
albatross.
[23.] I wist, I knew.
[24.] Agape, with mouths open as though surprised.
[25.] Gramercy (from the French _grand-merci_), an exclamation formerly
used to denote thankfulness with surprise.
[26.] To work us weal, to do us good.
[27.] Straight, straightway, immediately.
[28.] The Sun was flecked with bars. The frame of the skeleton ship
showed clearly against the setting sun as she passed before it.
[29.] Heaven's Mother, the Virgin Mary.
[30.] Gossameres, gossamers, cobwebs.
[31.] The Nightmare Life-in-Death. In this strange being the poet
personifies the state of a person who lives, as it were, in the shadow
of death. The condition called "nightmare" was formerly believed to be
caused by the witch Nightmare, who oppressed people during sleep.
[32.] At one stride comes the dark. This is a wonderful picture of the
sudden fall of night near the equator, where there is no twilight.
[33.] Clomb, climbed; an old form.
[34.] The horned moon, etc. Coleridge says in a note: "It is a common
superstition among sailors that something evil is about to happen
whenever a star dogs the moon."
[35.] I fear thee. The wedding guest imagined that the Mariner died
with the rest of the sailors and that he was talking with a ghost.
[36.] And thou art long, etc. This line and the line following were
written by Wordsworth.
[37.] For the sky, etc. This line, with its repetitions, and the extra
length of the stanza, tend to make one feel the load that was pressing
upon the Mariner.
[38.] Bemocked the sultry main, mocked the sultry ocean.
[39.] They moved, etc. This description is true of fish of all kinds
on a dark night when there is a great deal of phosphorus in the water.
[40.] Silly, frail.
[41.] Dank, damp, wet; seldom used in prose.
[42.] Sheen, bright, glittering.
[43.] Wan, pale.
[44.] Gan work, did work, or began to work.
[45.] Sometimes a-dropping, etc. Notice what a pleasant interlude is
made by this stanza and the three which follow.
[46.] Jargoning, confused sounds.
[47.] I fell down in a swound. The poet explains that the vessel,
driven by angelic power, sped on with extreme rapidity, and that the
Mariner was put into a trance because he could not have endured the
motion.
[48.] Two voices in the air. These were the voices of spirits who felt
the wrong that had been done to the Spirit of the South Pole by the
killing of the albatross.
[49.] Honey-dew, a sweet substance found in small drops on the leaves
of trees and plants.
[50.] If he may know, so that he may know.
[51.] For she guides him, etc., _i.e._ whether smooth or rough, the
ocean is always guided by the moon.
[52.] Charnel-dungeon, a vault where the bones of the dead are kept.
[53.] Countree, country; this form of the word occurs frequently in old
ballads.
[54.] Harbor bar, a bank of sand or other matter at the mouth of a
harbor, which obstructs navigation.
[55.] The harbor bay, etc. Notice the effect of quietness produced by
this line and the eight which follow.
[56.] Holy rood, holy cross.
[57.] Impart, give forth, send forth.
[58.] Shrieve, shrive, hear confession and pronounce absolution. In
the earlier ages of the Christian Church it was not uncommon for men to
live as hermits, devoting themselves to fasting, penance, and prayer.
[59.] Trow (pronounced _tro_), think.
[60.] Ivy-tod, ivy-bush.
[61.] Afeared, afraid; an old form.
[62.] The Hermit crossed his brow. He did this to ward off evil, for
he feared that the Mariner was a wicked spirit in human form.
[63.] Vesper bell, a bell calling to evening prayer. See note on l. 76.
[64.] Of sense forlorn, deprived of sense, of feeling.
End of Project Gutenberg's Selections from Five English Poets, by Various