Selections from Five English Poets Part 13

"I saw a third--I heard his voice: It is the Hermit good!

He singeth loud his G.o.dly hymns 510 That he makes in the wood.

He'll shrieve[58] my soul, he'll wash away The Albatross's blood."

PART VII

"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 pa.s.s, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d who loveth us, He made and loveth all."

The Mariner, whose eye is bright, Whose beard with age is h.o.a.r, 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 G.o.d'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.