Selections from Five English Poets Part 11

"Are those her ribs through which the Sun 185 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?

"Her lips were red, her looks were free, 190 Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death[31] was she Who thicks man's blood with cold.

"The naked hulk alongside came, 195 And the twain were casting dice; 'The game is done! I've won, I've won!'

Quoth she, and whistles thrice.

"The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out; At one stride comes the dark;[32] 200 With far-heard whisper o'er the sea Off shot the spectre-bark.

"We listened and looked sideways up!

Fear at my heart, as at a cup, My life-blood seemed to sip! 205 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[33] above the eastern bar The horned Moon, with one bright star 210 Within the nether tip.[34]

"One after one, by the star-dogged Moon, Too quick for groan or sigh, Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, And cursed me with his eye. 215

"Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one.

"The souls did from their bodies fly,-- 220 They fled to bliss or woe!

And every soul, it pa.s.sed me by, Like the whizz of my cross-bow!"

PART IV

"I fear thee,[35] ancient Mariner!

I fear thy skinny hand! 225 And thou art long, and lank, and brown,[36]

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! 230 This body dropped not down.

"Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea!

And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. 235

"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, 240 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, 245 A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust.

"I closed my lids, and kept them close, And the b.a.l.l.s like pulses beat; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky,[37] 250 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: The look with which they looked on me 255 Had never pa.s.sed away.

"An orphan's curse would drag to h.e.l.l A spirit from on high; But oh! more horrible than that Is a curse in a dead man's eye! 260 Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, And yet I could not die.

"The moving Moon went up the sky, And nowhere did abide: Softly she was going up, 265 And a star or two beside--

"Her beams bemocked the sultry main,[38]

Like April h.o.a.r-frost spread; But where the s.h.i.+p's huge shadow lay, The charmed water burnt alway 270 A still and awful red.

"Beyond the shadow of the s.h.i.+p, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of s.h.i.+ning white, And when they reared, the elfish light 275 Fell off in h.o.a.ry flakes.[39]

"Within the shadow of the s.h.i.+p I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track 280 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 them unaware: 285 Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware.

"The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank 290 Like lead into the sea."

PART V

"O sleep! it is a gentle thing, Beloved from pole to pole!

To Mary Queen the praise be given!

She sent the gentle sleep from heaven, 295 That slid into my soul.

"The silly[40] buckets on the deck, That had so long remained, I dreamt that they were filled with dew; And when I awoke, it rained. 300

"My lips were wet, my throat was cold, My garments all were dank;[41]

Sure I had drunken in my dreams, And still my body drank.

"I moved, and could not feel my limbs: 305 I was so light--almost I thought that I had died in sleep, And was a blessed ghost.

"And soon I heard a roaring wind: It did not come anear; 310 But with its sound it shook the sails, That were so thin and sere.

"The upper air burst into life!

And a hundred fire-flags sheen,[42]

To and fro they were hurried about! 315 And to and fro, and in and out, The wan[43] stars danced between.

"And the coming wind did roar more loud, And the sails did sigh like sedge; And the rain poured down from one black cloud, 320 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, 325 A river steep and wide.

"The loud wind never reached the s.h.i.+p, Yet now the s.h.i.+p moved on!

Beneath the lightning and the Moon The dead men gave a groan. 330

"They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose, Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; It had been strange, even in a dream, To have seen those dead men rise.

"The helmsman steered, the s.h.i.+p moved on; 335 Yet never a breeze up blew; The mariners all gan work[44] the ropes, Where they were wont to do; They raised their limbs like lifeless tools-- We were a ghastly crew. 340

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

"I fear thee, ancient Mariner!" 345 "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 dawned--they dropped their arms, 350 And cl.u.s.tered round the mast; Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And from their bodies pa.s.sed.