├── h1.sed
├── h1.pl
├── triangle.txt
├── basho.txt
├── top.sed
├── voltaire.txt
├── ascii-graphic.txt
├── top.pl
├── xslt.sed
├── html.sed
├── schiller.txt
├── rime-intro.txt
├── html.pl
├── ascii.txt
├── lorem.dita
├── rime.txt
└── rime.html
/h1.sed:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/sed
2 |
3 | s/^/
/
4 | s/$/<\/h1>/
5 | q
6 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/h1.pl:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/perl -n
2 |
3 | if ($. == 1) {
4 | s/^//;
5 | s/$/<\/h1>/m;
6 | print;
7 | }
8 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/triangle.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | 1
2 | 22
3 | 333
4 | 4444
5 | 55555
6 | 666666
7 | 7777777
8 | 88888888
9 | 999999999
10 | 0000000000
11 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/basho.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | 古池
2 | 蛙飛び込む
3 | 水の音
4 | —芭蕉 (1644–1694)
5 |
6 | At the ancient pond
7 | a frog plunges into
8 | the sound of water.
9 | —Basho (1644–1694)
10 |
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/top.sed:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/sed
2 |
3 | 1 i\
4 | \
5 | \
6 | \
7 | The Rime of the Ancyent Mariner (1798)\
8 | \
9 |
10 | s/^//
11 | s/$/<\/h1>/
12 | q
13 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/voltaire.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | "Qu’est-ce que la tolérance? c’est l’apanage de l’humanité. Nous sommes tous pétris de faiblesses et d’erreurs; pardonnons-nous réciproquement nos sottises, c’est la première loi de la nature." —Voltaire (1694–1778)
2 |
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/ascii-graphic.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | ! " # $ % & ' () * + , - . /
2 | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
3 | : ; < = > ? @
4 | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
5 | [ \ ] ^ _ `
6 | a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
7 | { | } ~
8 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/top.pl:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/perl -n
2 |
3 | if ($ == 1) {
4 | print "\
5 | \
6 | \
7 | The Rime of the Ancyent Mariner (1798)\
8 | \
9 | \
10 | ";
11 | s/^//;
12 | s/$/<\/h1>/m;
13 | print;
14 | exit;
15 | }
16 |
17 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/xslt.sed:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/sed
2 |
3 | 1 i\
4 | \
5 |
6 | s/^\
7 | $/">\
8 | \
9 | <\/xsl:template>/;$ a\
10 | \
11 | \
12 |
13 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/html.sed:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/sed
2 |
3 | 1s/^(.*)$/\
4 | \
5 | \
6 | \1<\/title>\
7 | <\/head>\
8 | \
9 | \1<\/h1>\
10 | /
11 |
12 | s/^(ARGUMENT|I{0,3}V?I{0,2})\.$/\1<\/h2>/
13 | 5s/^([A-Z].*)$/
\1<\/p>/
14 | 9s/^[ ]*(.*)/
\1
/
15 | 10,832s/^([ ]{5,7}.*)/\1
/
16 | 833s/^(.*)/\1<\/p>/
17 | s/^$/
/
18 | $ a\
19 | <\/body>\
20 | <\/html>\
21 |
22 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/schiller.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | An die Freude.
2 |
3 | Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
4 | Tochter aus Elisium,
5 | Wir betreten feuertrunken
6 | Himmlische, dein Heiligthum.
7 | Deine Zauber binden wieder,
8 | was der Mode Schwerd getheilt;
9 | Bettler werden Fürstenbrüder,
10 | wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
11 |
12 | Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
13 | Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
14 | Brüder, überm Sternenzelt
15 | muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
16 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/rime-intro.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | THE RIME OF THE ANCYENT MARINERE, IN SEVEN PARTS.
2 |
3 | ARGUMENT.
4 |
5 | How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by Storms to the cold
6 | Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course
7 | to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange
8 | things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to
9 | his own Country.
10 |
11 | I.
12 |
13 | 1 It is an ancyent Marinere,
14 | 2 And he stoppeth one of three:
15 | 3 "By thy long grey beard and thy glittering eye
16 | 4 "Now wherefore stoppest me?
17 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/html.pl:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | #!/usr/bin/perl -p
2 |
3 | if ($. == 1) {
4 | chomp($title = $_);
5 | }
6 | print "\
7 | \
8 |
\
9 | $title\
10 | \
11 | \
12 | \
13 | $title
\n" if $. == 1;
14 | s/^(ARGUMENT|I{0,3}V?I{0,2})\.$/$1<\/h2>/;
15 | if ($. == 5) {
16 | s/^([A-Z].*)$/
$1<\/p>/;
17 | }
18 | if ($. == 9) {
19 | s/^[ ]*(.*)/
$1
/;
20 | }
21 | if (10..832) {
22 | s/^([ ]{5,7}.*)/$1
/;
23 | }
24 | if (9..eof) {
25 | s/^$/
/;
26 | }
27 | if ($. == 833) {
28 | s/^(.*)$/$1<\/p>\n <\/body>\n<\/html>\n/;
29 | }
30 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/ascii.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0. Null
2 | 1. Start of header
3 | 2. Start of text
4 | 3. End of text
5 | 4. End of transmission
6 | 5. Enquiry
7 | 6. Ack
8 | 7. Bell
9 | 8. Backspace
10 | 9. Horizontal tab
11 | 10. Line feed
12 | 11. Vertical tab
13 | 12. Form feed
14 | 13. Carriage return
15 | 14. Shift out
16 | 15. Shift in
17 | 16. Data link escape
18 | 17. Device control 1 (XON)
19 | 18. Device control 2
20 | 19. Device control 3 (XOFF)
21 | 20. Device control 4
22 | 21. Negative ack
23 | 22. Synchronous idle
24 | 23. End of transmission
25 | 24. Cancel
26 | 25. End of medium
27 | 26. Substitute
28 | 27. Escape
29 | 28. File separator
30 | 29. Group separator
31 | 30. Record separator
32 | 31. Unit separator
33 | 32. Space
34 | 33. !
35 | 34. "
36 | 35. #
37 | 36. $
38 | 37. %
39 | 38. &
40 | 39. '
41 | 40. (
42 | 41. )
43 | 42. *
44 | 43. +
45 | 44. ,
46 | 45. -
47 | 46. .
48 | 47. /
49 | 48. 0
50 | 49. 1
51 | 50. 2
52 | 51. 3
53 | 52. 4
54 | 53. 5
55 | 54. 6
56 | 55. 7
57 | 56. 8
58 | 57. 9
59 | 58. :
60 | 59. ;
61 | 60. <
62 | 61. =
63 | 62. >
64 | 63. ?
65 | 64. @
66 | 65. A
67 | 66. B
68 | 67. C
69 | 68. D
70 | 69. E
71 | 70. F
72 | 71. G
73 | 72. H
74 | 73. I
75 | 74. J
76 | 75. K
77 | 76. L
78 | 77. M
79 | 78. N
80 | 79. O
81 | 80. P
82 | 81. Q
83 | 82. R
84 | 83. S
85 | 84. T
86 | 85. U
87 | 86. V
88 | 87. W
89 | 88. X
90 | 89. Y
91 | 90. Z
92 | 91. [
93 | 92. \
94 | 93. ]
95 | 94. ^
96 | 95. _
97 | 96. `
98 | 97. a
99 | 98. b
100 | 99. c
101 | 100. d
102 | 101. e
103 | 102. f
104 | 103. g
105 | 104. h
106 | 105. i
107 | 106. j
108 | 107. k
109 | 108. l
110 | 109. m
111 | 110. n
112 | 111. o
113 | 112. p
114 | 113. q
115 | 114. r
116 | 115. s
117 | 116. t
118 | 117. u
119 | 118. v
120 | 119. w
121 | 120. x
122 | 121. y
123 | 122. z
124 | 123. {
125 | 124. |
126 | 125. }
127 | 126. ~
128 | 127. Delete
129 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/lorem.dita:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | Lorem Ipsum
5 |
6 | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras non commodo mi. Donec cursus condimentum dignissim. Nulla ac ipsum vel nisi placerat posuere. Curabitur eleifend aliquam rhoncus. Quisque sodales tempor metus commodo vehicula. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam at tortor risus. Curabitur eget mi ut magna fringilla auctor. Fusce nibh sem, facilisis id volutpat eu, convallis in nibh. Maecenas mauris risus, gravida sed tempor sit amet, aliquam quis lectus. Mauris id metus vel lacus facilisis cursus. Aenean venenatis elementum eros, nec sollicitudin enim vulputate sed. Morbi eget neque ac dui ullamcorper ullamcorper. In convallis ligula eu purus rutrum bibendum.
7 | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit:
8 |
9 | - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
10 | - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
11 | - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
12 |
13 | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras non commodo mi. Donec cursus condimentum dignissim. Nulla ac ipsum vel nisi placerat posuere. Curabitur eleifend aliquam rhoncus. Quisque sodales tempor metus commodo vehicula. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam at tortor risus. Curabitur eget mi ut magna fringilla auctor. Fusce nibh sem, facilisis id volutpat eu, convallis in nibh. Maecenas mauris risus, gravida sed tempor sit amet, aliquam quis lectus. Mauris id metus vel lacus facilisis cursus. Aenean venenatis elementum eros, nec sollicitudin enim vulputate sed. Morbi eget neque ac dui ullamcorper ullamcorper. In convallis ligula eu purus rutrum bibendum.
14 | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras non commodo mi. Donec cursus condimentum dignissim. Nulla ac ipsum vel nisi placerat posuere. Curabitur eleifend aliquam rhoncus. Quisque sodales tempor metus commodo vehicula. Suspendisse potenti. Aliquam at tortor risus. Curabitur eget mi ut magna fringilla auctor. Fusce nibh sem, facilisis id volutpat eu, convallis in nibh. Maecenas mauris risus, gravida sed tempor sit amet, aliquam quis lectus. Mauris id metus vel lacus facilisis cursus. Aenean venenatis elementum eros, nec sollicitudin enim vulputate sed. Morbi eget neque ac dui ullamcorper ullamcorper. In convallis ligula eu purus rutrum bibendum.
15 |
16 |
17 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/rime.txt:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 | THE RIME OF THE ANCYENT MARINERE, IN SEVEN PARTS.
2 |
3 | ARGUMENT.
4 |
5 | How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by Storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.
6 |
7 | I.
8 |
9 | It is an ancyent Marinere,
10 | And he stoppeth one of three:
11 | "By thy long grey beard and thy glittering eye
12 | "Now wherefore stoppest me?
13 |
14 | "The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide
15 | "And I am next of kin;
16 | "The Guests are met, the Feast is set,--
17 | "May'st hear the merry din.--
18 |
19 | But still he holds the wedding-guest--
20 | There was a Ship, quoth he--
21 | "Nay, if thou'st got a laughsome tale,
22 | "Marinere! come with me."
23 |
24 | He holds him with his skinny hand,
25 | Quoth he, there was a Ship--
26 | "Now get thee hence, thou grey-beard Loon!
27 | "Or my Staff shall make thee skip."
28 |
29 | He holds him with his glittering eye--
30 | The wedding guest stood still
31 | And listens like a three year's child;
32 | The Marinere hath his will.
33 |
34 | The wedding-guest sate on a stone,
35 | He cannot chuse but hear:
36 | And thus spake on that ancyent man,
37 | The bright-eyed Marinere.
38 |
39 | The Ship was cheer'd, the Harbour clear'd--
40 | Merrily did we drop
41 | Below the Kirk, below the Hill,
42 | Below the Light-house top.
43 |
44 | The Sun came up upon the left,
45 | Out of the Sea came he:
46 | And he shone bright, and on the right
47 | Went down into the Sea.
48 |
49 | Higher and higher every day,
50 | Till over the mast at noon--
51 | The wedding-guest here beat his breast,
52 | For he heard the loud bassoon.
53 |
54 | The Bride hath pac'd into the Hall,
55 | Red as a rose is she;
56 | Nodding their heads before her goes
57 | The merry Minstralsy.
58 |
59 | The wedding-guest he beat his breast,
60 | Yet he cannot chuse but hear:
61 | And thus spake on that ancyent Man,
62 | The bright-eyed Marinere.
63 |
64 | Listen, Stranger! Storm and Wind,
65 | A Wind and Tempest strong!
66 | For days and weeks it play'd us freaks--
67 | Like Chaff we drove along.
68 |
69 | Listen, Stranger! Mist and Snow,
70 | And it grew wond'rous cauld:
71 | And Ice mast-high came floating by
72 | As green as Emerauld.
73 |
74 | And thro' the drifts the snowy clifts
75 | Did send a dismal sheen;
76 | Ne shapes of men ne beasts we ken--
77 | The Ice was all between.
78 |
79 | The Ice was here, the Ice was there,
80 | The Ice was all around:
81 | It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd--
82 | Like noises of a swound.
83 |
84 | At length did cross an Albatross,
85 | Thorough the Fog it came;
86 | And an it were a Christian Soul,
87 | We hail'd it in God's name.
88 |
89 | The Marineres gave it biscuit-worms,
90 | And round and round it flew:
91 | The Ice did split with a Thunder-fit;
92 | The Helmsman steer'd us thro'.
93 |
94 | And a good south wind sprung up behind,
95 | The Albatross did follow;
96 | And every day for food or play
97 | Came to the Marinere's hollo!
98 |
99 | In mist or cloud on mast or shroud
100 | It perch'd for vespers nine,
101 | Whiles all the night thro' fog-smoke white
102 | Glimmer'd the white moon-shine.
103 |
104 | "God save thee, ancyent Marinere!
105 | "From the fiends that plague thee thus--
106 | "Why look'st thou so?"--with my cross bow
107 | I shot the Albatross.
108 |
109 | II.
110 |
111 | The Sun came up upon the right,
112 | Out of the Sea came he;
113 | And broad as a weft upon the left
114 | Went down into the Sea.
115 |
116 | And the good south wind still blew behind,
117 | But no sweet Bird did follow
118 | Ne any day for food or play
119 | Came to the Marinere's hollo!
120 |
121 | And I had done an hellish thing
122 | And it would work 'em woe:
123 | For all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird
124 | That made the Breeze to blow.
125 |
126 | Ne dim ne red, like God's own head,
127 | The glorious Sun uprist:
128 | Then all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird
129 | That brought the fog and mist.
130 | 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay
131 | That bring the fog and mist.
132 |
133 | The breezes blew, the white foam flew,
134 | The furrow follow'd free:
135 | We were the first that ever burst
136 | Into that silent Sea.
137 |
138 | Down dropt the breeze, the Sails dropt down,
139 | 'Twas sad as sad could be
140 | And we did speak only to break
141 | The silence of the Sea.
142 |
143 | All in a hot and copper sky
144 | The bloody sun at noon,
145 | Right up above the mast did stand,
146 | No bigger than the moon.
147 |
148 | Day after day, day after day,
149 | We stuck, ne breath ne motion,
150 | As idle as a painted Ship
151 | Upon a painted Ocean.
152 |
153 | Water, water, every where
154 | And all the boards did shrink;
155 | Water, water, every where,
156 | Ne any drop to drink.
157 |
158 | The very deeps did rot: O Christ!
159 | That ever this should be!
160 | Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
161 | Upon the slimy Sea.
162 |
163 | About, about, in reel and rout
164 | The Death-fires danc'd at night;
165 | The water, like a witch's oils,
166 | Burnt green and blue and white.
167 |
168 | And some in dreams assured were
169 | Of the Spirit that plagued us so:
170 | Nine fathom deep he had follow'd us
171 | From the Land of Mist and Snow.
172 |
173 | And every tongue thro' utter drouth
174 | Was wither'd at the root;
175 | We could not speak no more than if
176 | We had been choked with soot.
177 |
178 | Ah wel-a-day! what evil looks
179 | Had I from old and young;
180 | Instead of the Cross the Albatross
181 | About my neck was hung.
182 |
183 | III.
184 |
185 | I saw a something in the Sky
186 | No bigger than my fist;
187 | At first it seem'd a little speck
188 | And then it seem'd a mist:
189 | It mov'd and mov'd, and took at last
190 | A certain shape, I wist.
191 |
192 | A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
193 | And still it ner'd and ner'd;
194 | And, an it dodg'd a water-sprite,
195 | It plung'd and tack'd and veer'd.
196 |
197 | With throat unslack'd, with black lips bak'd
198 | Ne could we laugh, ne wail:
199 | Then while thro' drouth all dumb they stood
200 | I bit my arm and suck'd the blood
201 | And cry'd, A sail! a sail!
202 |
203 | With throat unslack'd, with black lips bak'd
204 | Agape they hear'd me call:
205 | Gramercy! they for joy did grin
206 | And all at once their breath drew in
207 | As they were drinking all.
208 |
209 | She doth not tack from side to side--
210 | Hither to work us weal
211 | Withouten wind, withouten tide
212 | She steddies with upright keel.
213 |
214 | The western wave was all a flame,
215 | The day was well nigh done!
216 | Almost upon the western wave
217 | Rested the broad bright Sun;
218 | When that strange shape drove suddenly
219 | Betwixt us and the Sun.
220 |
221 | And strait the Sun was fleck'd with bars
222 | (Heaven's mother send us grace)
223 | As if thro' a dungeon grate he peer'd
224 | With broad and burning face.
225 |
226 | Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
227 | How fast she neres and neres!
228 | Are those _her_ Sails that glance in the Sun
229 | Like restless gossameres?
230 |
231 | Are these _her_ naked ribs, which fleck'd
232 | The sun that did behind them peer?
233 | And are these two all, all the crew,
234 | That woman and her fleshless Pheere?
235 |
236 | _His_ bones were black with many a crack,
237 | All black and bare, I ween;
238 | Jet-black and bare, save where with rust
239 | Of mouldy damps and charnel crust
240 | They're patch'd with purple and green.
241 |
242 | _Her_ lips are red, _her_ looks are free,
243 | _Her_ locks are yellow as gold:
244 | Her skin is as white as leprosy,
245 | And she is far liker Death than he;
246 | Her flesh makes the still air cold.
247 |
248 | The naked Hulk alongside came
249 | And the Twain were playing dice;
250 | "The Game is done! I've won, I've won!"
251 | Quoth she, and whistled thrice.
252 |
253 | A gust of wind sterte up behind
254 | And whistled thro' his bones;
255 | Thro' the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth
256 | Half-whistles and half-groans.
257 |
258 | With never a whisper in the Sea
259 | Off darts the Spectre-ship;
260 | While clombe above the Eastern bar
261 | The horned Moon, with one bright Star
262 | Almost atween the tips.
263 |
264 | One after one by the horned Moon
265 | (Listen, O Stranger! to me)
266 | Each turn'd his face with a ghastly pang
267 | And curs'd me with his ee.
268 |
269 | Four times fifty living men,
270 | With never a sigh or groan,
271 | With heavy thump, a lifeless lump
272 | They dropp'd down one by one.
273 |
274 | Their souls did from their bodies fly,--
275 | They fled to bliss or woe;
276 | And every soul it pass'd me by,
277 | Like the whiz of my Cross-bow.
278 |
279 | IV.
280 |
281 | "I fear thee, ancyent Marinere!
282 | "I fear thy skinny hand;
283 | "And thou art long and lank and brown
284 | "As is the ribb'd Sea-sand.
285 |
286 | "I fear thee and thy glittering eye
287 | "And thy skinny hand so brown"--
288 | Fear not, fear not, thou wedding guest!
289 | This body dropt not down.
290 |
291 | Alone, alone, all all alone
292 | Alone on the wide wide Sea;
293 | And Christ would take no pity on
294 | My soul in agony.
295 |
296 | The many men so beautiful,
297 | And they all dead did lie!
298 | And a million million slimy things
299 | Liv'd on--and so did I.
300 |
301 | I look'd upon the rotting Sea,
302 | And drew my eyes away;
303 | I look'd upon the eldritch deck,
304 | And there the dead men lay.
305 |
306 | I look'd to Heaven, and try'd to pray;
307 | But or ever a prayer had gusht,
308 | A wicked whisper came and made
309 | My heart as dry as dust.
310 |
311 | I clos'd my lids and kept them close,
312 | Till the balls like pulses beat;
313 | For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
314 | Lay like a load on my weary eye,
315 | And the dead were at my feet.
316 |
317 | The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
318 | Ne rot, ne reek did they;
319 | The look with which they look'd on me,
320 | Had never pass'd away.
321 |
322 | An orphan's curse would drag to Hell
323 | A spirit from on high:
324 | But O! more horrible than that
325 | Is the curse in a dead man's eye!
326 | Seven days, seven nights I saw that curse
327 | And yet I could not die.
328 |
329 | The moving Moon went up the sky
330 | And no where did abide:
331 | Softly she was going up
332 | And a star or two beside--
333 |
334 | Her beams bemock'd the sultry main
335 | Like morning frosts yspread;
336 | But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
337 | The charmed water burnt alway
338 | A still and awful red.
339 |
340 | Beyond the shadow of the ship
341 | I watch'd the water-snakes:
342 | They mov'd in tracks of shining white;
343 | And when they rear'd, the elfish light
344 | Fell off in hoary flakes.
345 |
346 | Within the shadow of the ship
347 | I watch'd their rich attire:
348 | Blue, glossy green, and velvet black
349 | They coil'd and swam; and every track
350 | Was a flash of golden fire.
351 |
352 | O happy living things! no tongue
353 | Their beauty might declare:
354 | A spring of love gusht from my heart,
355 | And I bless'd them unaware!
356 | Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
357 | And I bless'd them unaware.
358 |
359 | The self-same moment I could pray;
360 | And from my neck so free
361 | The Albatross fell off, and sank
362 | Like lead into the sea.
363 |
364 | V.
365 |
366 | O sleep, it is a gentle thing
367 | Belov'd from pole to pole!
368 | To Mary-queen the praise be yeven
369 | She sent the gentle sleep from heaven
370 | That slid into my soul.
371 |
372 | The silly buckets on the deck
373 | That had so long remain'd,
374 | I dreamt that they were fill'd with dew
375 | And when I awoke it rain'd.
376 |
377 | My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
378 | My garments all were dank;
379 | Sure I had drunken in my dreams
380 | And still my body drank.
381 |
382 | I mov'd and could not feel my limbs,
383 | I was so light, almost
384 | I thought that I had died in sleep,
385 | And was a blessed Ghost.
386 |
387 | The roaring wind! it roar'd far off,
388 | It did not come anear;
389 | But with its sound it shook the sails
390 | That were so thin and sere.
391 |
392 | The upper air bursts into life,
393 | And a hundred fire-flags sheen
394 | To and fro they are hurried about;
395 | And to and fro, and in and out
396 | The stars dance on between.
397 |
398 | The coming wind doth roar more loud;
399 | The sails do sigh, like sedge:
400 | The rain pours down from one black cloud
401 | And the Moon is at its edge.
402 |
403 | Hark! hark! the thick black cloud is cleft,
404 | And the Moon is at its side:
405 | Like waters shot from some high crag,
406 | The lightning falls with never a jag
407 | A river steep and wide.
408 |
409 | The strong wind reach'd the ship: it roar'd
410 | And dropp'd down, like a stone!
411 | Beneath the lightning and the moon
412 | The dead men gave a groan.
413 |
414 | They groan'd, they stirr'd, they all uprose,
415 | Ne spake, ne mov'd their eyes:
416 | It had been strange, even in a dream
417 | To have seen those dead men rise.
418 |
419 | The helmsman steerd, the ship mov'd on;
420 | Yet never a breeze up-blew;
421 | The Marineres all 'gan work the ropes,
422 | Where they were wont to do:
423 |
424 | They rais'd their limbs like lifeless tools--
425 | We were a ghastly crew.
426 |
427 | The body of my brother's son
428 | Stood by me knee to knee:
429 | The body and I pull'd at one rope,
430 | But he said nought to me--
431 | And I quak'd to think of my own voice
432 | How frightful it would be!
433 |
434 | The day-light dawn'd--they dropp'd their arms,
435 | And cluster'd round the mast:
436 | Sweet sounds rose slowly thro' their mouths
437 | And from their bodies pass'd.
438 |
439 | Around, around, flew each sweet sound,
440 | Then darted to the sun:
441 | Slowly the sounds came back again
442 | Now mix'd, now one by one.
443 |
444 | Sometimes a dropping from the sky
445 | I heard the Lavrock sing;
446 | Sometimes all little birds that are
447 | How they seem'd to fill the sea and air
448 | With their sweet jargoning,
449 |
450 | And now 'twas like all instruments,
451 | Now like a lonely flute;
452 | And now it is an angel's song
453 | That makes the heavens be mute.
454 |
455 | It ceas'd: yet still the sails made on
456 | A pleasant noise till noon,
457 | A noise like of a hidden brook
458 | In the leafy month of June,
459 | That to the sleeping woods all night
460 | Singeth a quiet tune.
461 |
462 | Listen, O listen, thou Wedding-guest!
463 | "Marinere! thou hast thy will:
464 | "For that, which comes out of thine eye, doth make
465 | "My body and soul to be still."
466 |
467 | Never sadder tale was told
468 | To a man of woman born:
469 | Sadder and wiser thou wedding-guest!
470 | Thou'lt rise to morrow morn.
471 |
472 | Never sadder tale was heard
473 | By a man of woman born:
474 | The Marineres all return'd to work
475 | As silent as beforne.
476 |
477 | The Marineres all 'gan pull the ropes,
478 | But look at me they n'old:
479 | Thought I, I am as thin as air--
480 | They cannot me behold.
481 |
482 | Till moon we silently sail'd on
483 | Yet never a breeze did breathe:
484 | Slowly and smoothly went the ship
485 | Mov'd onward from beneath.
486 |
487 | Under the keel nine fathom deep
488 | From the land of mist and snow
489 | The spirit slid: and it was He
490 | That made the Ship to go.
491 | The sails at noon left off their tune
492 | And the Ship stood still also.
493 |
494 | The sun right up above the mast
495 | Had fix'd her to the ocean:
496 | But in a minute she 'gan stir
497 | With a short uneasy motion--
498 | Backwards and forwards half her length
499 | With a short uneasy motion.
500 |
501 | Then, like a pawing horse let go,
502 | She made a sudden bound:
503 | It flung the blood into my head,
504 | And I fell into a swound.
505 |
506 | How long in that same fit I lay,
507 | I have not to declare;
508 | But ere my living life return'd,
509 | I heard and in my soul discern'd
510 | Two voices in the air,
511 |
512 | "Is it he?" quoth one, "Is this the man?
513 | "By him who died on cross,
514 | "With his cruel bow he lay'd full low
515 | "The harmless Albatross.
516 |
517 | "The spirit who 'bideth by himself
518 | "In the land of mist and snow,
519 | "He lov'd the bird that lov'd the man
520 | "Who shot him with his bow."
521 |
522 | The other was a softer voice,
523 | As soft as honey-dew:
524 | Quoth he the man hath penance done,
525 | And penance more will do.
526 |
527 | VI.
528 |
529 | FIRST VOICE.
530 | "But tell me, tell me! speak again,
531 | "Thy soft response renewing--
532 | "What makes that ship drive on so fast?
533 | "What is the Ocean doing?"
534 |
535 | SECOND VOICE.
536 | "Still as a Slave before his Lord,
537 | "The Ocean hath no blast:
538 | "His great bright eye most silently
539 | "Up to the moon is cast--
540 |
541 | "If he may know which way to go,
542 | "For she guides him smooth or grim.
543 | "See, brother, see! how graciously
544 | "She looketh down on him."
545 |
546 | FIRST VOICE.
547 | "But why drives on that ship so fast
548 | "Withouten wave or wind?"
549 | SECOND VOICE.
550 | "The air is cut away before,
551 | "And closes from behind.
552 |
553 | "Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high,
554 | "Or we shall be belated:
555 | "For slow and slow that ship will go,
556 | "When the Marinere's trance is abated."
557 |
558 | I woke, and we were sailing on
559 | As in a gentle weather:
560 | 'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;
561 | The dead men stood together.
562 |
563 | All stood together on the deck,
564 | For a charnel-dungeon fitter:
565 | All fix'd on me their stony eyes
566 | That in the moon did glitter.
567 |
568 | The pang, the curse, with which they died,
569 | Had never pass'd away:
570 | I could not draw my een from theirs
571 | Ne turn them up to pray.
572 |
573 | And in its time the spell was snapt,
574 | And I could move my een:
575 | I look'd far-forth, but little saw
576 | Of what might else be seen.
577 |
578 | Like one, that on a lonely road
579 | Doth walk in fear and dread,
580 | And having once turn'd round, walks on
581 | And turns no more his head:
582 | Because he knows, a frightful fiend
583 | Doth close behind him tread.
584 |
585 | But soon there breath'd a wind on me,
586 | Ne sound ne motion made:
587 | Its path was not upon the sea
588 | In ripple or in shade.
589 |
590 | It rais'd my hair, it fann'd my cheek,
591 | Like a meadow-gale of spring--
592 | It mingled strangely with my fears,
593 | Yet it felt like a welcoming.
594 |
595 | Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
596 | Yet she sail'd softly too:
597 | Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze--
598 | On me alone it blew.
599 |
600 | O dream of joy! is this indeed
601 | The light-house top I see?
602 | Is this the Hill? Is this the Kirk?
603 | Is this mine own countree?
604 |
605 | We drifted o'er the Harbour-bar,
606 | And I with sobs did pray--
607 | "O let me be awake, my God!
608 | "Or let me sleep alway!"
609 |
610 | The harbour-bay was clear as glass,
611 | So smoothly it was strewn!
612 | And on the bay the moon light lay,
613 | And the shadow of the moon.
614 |
615 | The moonlight bay was white all o'er,
616 | Till rising from the same,
617 | Full many shapes, that shadows were,
618 | Like as of torches came.
619 |
620 | A little distance from the prow
621 | Those dark-red shadows were;
622 | But soon I saw that my own flesh
623 | Was red as in a glare.
624 |
625 | I turn'd my head in fear and dread,
626 | And by the holy rood,
627 | The bodies had advanc'd, and now
628 | Before the mast they stood.
629 |
630 | They lifted up their stiff right arms,
631 | They held them strait and tight;
632 | And each right-arm burnt like a torch,
633 | A torch that's borne upright.
634 | Their stony eye-balls glitter'd on
635 | In the red and smoky light.
636 |
637 | I pray'd and turn'd my head away
638 | Forth looking as before.
639 | There was no breeze upon the bay,
640 | No wave against the shore.
641 |
642 | The rock shone bright, the kirk no less
643 | That stands above the rock:
644 | The moonlight steep'd in silentness
645 | The steady weathercock.
646 |
647 | And the bay was white with silent light,
648 | Till rising from the same
649 | Full many shapes, that shadows were,
650 | In crimson colours came.
651 |
652 | A little distance from the prow
653 | Those crimson shadows were:
654 | I turn'd my eyes upon the deck--
655 | O Christ! what saw I there?
656 |
657 | Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat;
658 | And by the Holy rood
659 | A man all light, a seraph-man,
660 | On every corse there stood.
661 |
662 | This seraph-band, each wav'd his hand:
663 | It was a heavenly sight:
664 | They stood as signals to the land,
665 | Each one a lovely light:
666 |
667 | This seraph-band, each wav'd his hand,
668 | No voice did they impart--
669 | No voice; but O! the silence sank,
670 | Like music on my heart.
671 |
672 | Eftsones I heard the dash of oars,
673 | I heard the pilot's cheer:
674 | My head was turn'd perforce away
675 | And I saw a boat appear.
676 |
677 | Then vanish'd all the lovely lights;
678 | The bodies rose anew:
679 | With silent pace, each to his place,
680 | Came back the ghastly crew.
681 | The wind, that shade nor motion made,
682 | On me alone it blew.
683 |
684 | The pilot, and the pilot's boy
685 | I heard them coming fast:
686 | Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy,
687 | The dead men could not blast.
688 |
689 | I saw a third--I heard his voice:
690 | It is the Hermit good!
691 | He singeth loud his godly hymns
692 | That he makes in the wood.
693 | He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
694 | The Albatross's blood.
695 |
696 | VII.
697 |
698 | This Hermit good lives in that wood
699 | Which slopes down to the Sea.
700 | How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
701 | He loves to talk with Marineres
702 | That come from a far Contrée.
703 |
704 | He kneels at morn and noon and eve--
705 | He hath a cushion plump:
706 | It is the moss, that wholly hides
707 | The rotted old Oak-stump.
708 |
709 | The Skiff-boat ne'rd: I heard them talk,
710 | "Why, this is strange, I trow!
711 | "Where are those lights so many and fair
712 | "That signal made but now?
713 |
714 | "Strange, by my faith!" the Hermit said--
715 | "And they answer'd not our cheer.
716 | "The planks look warp'd, and see those sails
717 | "How thin they are and sere!
718 | "I never saw aught like to them
719 | "Unless perchance it were
720 |
721 | "The skeletons of leaves that lag
722 | "My forest brook along:
723 | "When the Ivy-tod is heavy with snow,
724 | "And the Owlet whoops to the wolf below
725 | "That eats the she-wolf's young.
726 |
727 | "Dear Lord! it has a fiendish look"--
728 | (The Pilot made reply)
729 | "I am a-fear'd.--"Push on, push on!"
730 | Said the Hermit cheerily.
731 |
732 | The Boat came closer to the Ship,
733 | But I ne spake ne stirr'd!
734 | The Boat came close beneath the Ship,
735 | And strait a sound was heard!
736 |
737 | Under the water it rumbled on,
738 | Still louder and more dread:
739 | It reach'd the Ship, it split the bay;
740 | The Ship went down like lead.
741 |
742 | Stunn'd by that loud and dreadful sound,
743 | Which sky and ocean smote:
744 | Like one that hath been seven days drown'd
745 | My body lay afloat:
746 | But, swift as dreams, myself I found
747 | Within the Pilot's boat.
748 |
749 | Upon the whirl, where sank the Ship,
750 | The boat spun round and round:
751 | And all was still, save that the hill
752 | Was telling of the sound.
753 |
754 | I mov'd my lips: the Pilot shriek'd
755 | And fell down in a fit.
756 | The Holy Hermit rais'd his eyes
757 | And pray'd where he did sit.
758 |
759 | I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
760 | Who now doth crazy go,
761 | Laugh'd loud and long, and all the while
762 | His eyes went to and fro,
763 | "Ha! ha!" quoth he--"full plain I see,
764 | "The devil knows how to row."
765 |
766 | And now all in mine own Countrée
767 | I stood on the firm land!
768 | The Hermit stepp'd forth from the boat,
769 | And scarcely he could stand.
770 |
771 | "O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy Man!"
772 | The Hermit cross'd his brow--
773 | "Say quick," quoth he, "I bid thee say
774 | "What manner man art thou?"
775 |
776 | Forthwith this frame of mine was wrench'd
777 | With a woeful agony,
778 | Which forc'd me to begin my tale
779 | And then it left me free.
780 |
781 | Since then at an uncertain hour,
782 | Now oftimes and now fewer,
783 | That anguish comes and makes me tell
784 | My ghastly aventure.
785 |
786 | I pass, like night, from land to land;
787 | I have strange power of speech;
788 | The moment that his face I see
789 | I know the man that must hear me;
790 | To him my tale I teach.
791 |
792 | What loud uproar bursts from that door!
793 | The Wedding-guests are there;
794 | But in the Garden-bower the Bride
795 | And Bride-maids singing are:
796 | And hark the little Vesper-bell
797 | Which biddeth me to prayer.
798 |
799 | O Wedding-guest! this soul hath been
800 | Alone on a wide wide sea:
801 | So lonely 'twas, that God himself
802 | Scarce seemed there to be.
803 |
804 | O sweeter than the Marriage-feast,
805 | 'Tis sweeter far to me
806 | To walk together to the Kirk
807 | With a goodly company.
808 |
809 | To walk together to the Kirk
810 | And all together pray,
811 | While each to his great father bends,
812 | Old men, and babes, and loving friends,
813 | And Youths, and Maidens gay.
814 |
815 | Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
816 | To thee, thou wedding-guest!
817 | He prayeth well who loveth well
818 | Both man and bird and beast.
819 |
820 | He prayeth best who loveth best,
821 | All things both great and small:
822 | For the dear God, who loveth us,
823 | He made and loveth all.
824 |
825 | The Marinere, whose eye is bright,
826 | Whose beard with age is hoar,
827 | Is gone; and now the wedding-guest
828 | Turn'd from the bridegroom's door.
829 |
830 | He went, like one that hath been stunn'd
831 | And is of sense forlorn:
832 | A sadder and a wiser man
833 | He rose the morrow morn.
834 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | THE RIME OF THE ANCYENT MARINERE, IN SEVEN PARTS.
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | THE RIME OF THE ANCYENT MARINERE, IN SEVEN PARTS.
9 | THE RIME OF THE ANCYENT MARINERE, IN SEVEN PARTS.
10 |
11 | ARGUMENT
12 |
13 | How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by Storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.
14 |
15 | I
16 |
17 | It is an ancyent Marinere,
18 | And he stoppeth one of three:
19 | "By thy long grey beard and thy glittering eye
20 | "Now wherefore stoppest me?
21 |
22 | "The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide
23 | "And I am next of kin;
24 | "The Guests are met, the Feast is set,--
25 | "May'st hear the merry din.--
26 |
27 | But still he holds the wedding-guest--
28 | There was a Ship, quoth he--
29 | "Nay, if thou'st got a laughsome tale,
30 | "Marinere! come with me."
31 |
32 | He holds him with his skinny hand,
33 | Quoth he, there was a Ship--
34 | "Now get thee hence, thou grey-beard Loon!
35 | "Or my Staff shall make thee skip."
36 |
37 | He holds him with his glittering eye--
38 | The wedding guest stood still
39 | And listens like a three year's child;
40 | The Marinere hath his will.
41 |
42 | The wedding-guest sate on a stone,
43 | He cannot chuse but hear:
44 | And thus spake on that ancyent man,
45 | The bright-eyed Marinere.
46 |
47 | The Ship was cheer'd, the Harbour clear'd--
48 | Merrily did we drop
49 | Below the Kirk, below the Hill,
50 | Below the Light-house top.
51 |
52 | The Sun came up upon the left,
53 | Out of the Sea came he:
54 | And he shone bright, and on the right
55 | Went down into the Sea.
56 |
57 | Higher and higher every day,
58 | Till over the mast at noon--
59 | The wedding-guest here beat his breast,
60 | For he heard the loud bassoon.
61 |
62 | The Bride hath pac'd into the Hall,
63 | Red as a rose is she;
64 | Nodding their heads before her goes
65 | The merry Minstralsy.
66 |
67 | The wedding-guest he beat his breast,
68 | Yet he cannot chuse but hear:
69 | And thus spake on that ancyent Man,
70 | The bright-eyed Marinere.
71 |
72 | Listen, Stranger! Storm and Wind,
73 | A Wind and Tempest strong!
74 | For days and weeks it play'd us freaks--
75 | Like Chaff we drove along.
76 |
77 | Listen, Stranger! Mist and Snow,
78 | And it grew wond'rous cauld:
79 | And Ice mast-high came floating by
80 | As green as Emerauld.
81 |
82 | And thro' the drifts the snowy clifts
83 | Did send a dismal sheen;
84 | Ne shapes of men ne beasts we ken--
85 | The Ice was all between.
86 |
87 | The Ice was here, the Ice was there,
88 | The Ice was all around:
89 | It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd--
90 | Like noises of a swound.
91 |
92 | At length did cross an Albatross,
93 | Thorough the Fog it came;
94 | And an it were a Christian Soul,
95 | We hail'd it in God's name.
96 |
97 | The Marineres gave it biscuit-worms,
98 | And round and round it flew:
99 | The Ice did split with a Thunder-fit;
100 | The Helmsman steer'd us thro'.
101 |
102 | And a good south wind sprung up behind,
103 | The Albatross did follow;
104 | And every day for food or play
105 | Came to the Marinere's hollo!
106 |
107 | In mist or cloud on mast or shroud
108 | It perch'd for vespers nine,
109 | Whiles all the night thro' fog-smoke white
110 | Glimmer'd the white moon-shine.
111 |
112 | "God save thee, ancyent Marinere!
113 | "From the fiends that plague thee thus--
114 | "Why look'st thou so?"--with my cross bow
115 | I shot the Albatross.
116 |
117 |
II
118 |
119 | The Sun came up upon the right,
120 | Out of the Sea came he;
121 | And broad as a weft upon the left
122 | Went down into the Sea.
123 |
124 | And the good south wind still blew behind,
125 | But no sweet Bird did follow
126 | Ne any day for food or play
127 | Came to the Marinere's hollo!
128 |
129 | And I had done an hellish thing
130 | And it would work 'em woe:
131 | For all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird
132 | That made the Breeze to blow.
133 |
134 | Ne dim ne red, like God's own head,
135 | The glorious Sun uprist:
136 | Then all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird
137 | That brought the fog and mist.
138 | 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay
139 | That bring the fog and mist.
140 |
141 | The breezes blew, the white foam flew,
142 | The furrow follow'd free:
143 | We were the first that ever burst
144 | Into that silent Sea.
145 |
146 | Down dropt the breeze, the Sails dropt down,
147 | 'Twas sad as sad could be
148 | And we did speak only to break
149 | The silence of the Sea.
150 |
151 | All in a hot and copper sky
152 | The bloody sun at noon,
153 | Right up above the mast did stand,
154 | No bigger than the moon.
155 |
156 | Day after day, day after day,
157 | We stuck, ne breath ne motion,
158 | As idle as a painted Ship
159 | Upon a painted Ocean.
160 |
161 | Water, water, every where
162 | And all the boards did shrink;
163 | Water, water, every where,
164 | Ne any drop to drink.
165 |
166 | The very deeps did rot: O Christ!
167 | That ever this should be!
168 | Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
169 | Upon the slimy Sea.
170 |
171 | About, about, in reel and rout
172 | The Death-fires danc'd at night;
173 | The water, like a witch's oils,
174 | Burnt green and blue and white.
175 |
176 | And some in dreams assured were
177 | Of the Spirit that plagued us so:
178 | Nine fathom deep he had follow'd us
179 | From the Land of Mist and Snow.
180 |
181 | And every tongue thro' utter drouth
182 | Was wither'd at the root;
183 | We could not speak no more than if
184 | We had been choked with soot.
185 |
186 | Ah wel-a-day! what evil looks
187 | Had I from old and young;
188 | Instead of the Cross the Albatross
189 | About my neck was hung.
190 |
191 | III
192 |
193 | I saw a something in the Sky
194 | No bigger than my fist;
195 | At first it seem'd a little speck
196 | And then it seem'd a mist:
197 | It mov'd and mov'd, and took at last
198 | A certain shape, I wist.
199 |
200 | A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
201 | And still it ner'd and ner'd;
202 | And, an it dodg'd a water-sprite,
203 | It plung'd and tack'd and veer'd.
204 |
205 | With throat unslack'd, with black lips bak'd
206 | Ne could we laugh, ne wail:
207 | Then while thro' drouth all dumb they stood
208 | I bit my arm and suck'd the blood
209 | And cry'd, A sail! a sail!
210 |
211 | With throat unslack'd, with black lips bak'd
212 | Agape they hear'd me call:
213 | Gramercy! they for joy did grin
214 | And all at once their breath drew in
215 | As they were drinking all.
216 |
217 | She doth not tack from side to side--
218 | Hither to work us weal
219 | Withouten wind, withouten tide
220 | She steddies with upright keel.
221 |
222 | The western wave was all a flame,
223 | The day was well nigh done!
224 | Almost upon the western wave
225 | Rested the broad bright Sun;
226 | When that strange shape drove suddenly
227 | Betwixt us and the Sun.
228 |
229 | And strait the Sun was fleck'd with bars
230 | (Heaven's mother send us grace)
231 | As if thro' a dungeon grate he peer'd
232 | With broad and burning face.
233 |
234 | Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
235 | How fast she neres and neres!
236 | Are those _her_ Sails that glance in the Sun
237 | Like restless gossameres?
238 |
239 | Are these _her_ naked ribs, which fleck'd
240 | The sun that did behind them peer?
241 | And are these two all, all the crew,
242 | That woman and her fleshless Pheere?
243 |
244 | _His_ bones were black with many a crack,
245 | All black and bare, I ween;
246 | Jet-black and bare, save where with rust
247 | Of mouldy damps and charnel crust
248 | They're patch'd with purple and green.
249 |
250 | _Her_ lips are red, _her_ looks are free,
251 | _Her_ locks are yellow as gold:
252 | Her skin is as white as leprosy,
253 | And she is far liker Death than he;
254 | Her flesh makes the still air cold.
255 |
256 | The naked Hulk alongside came
257 | And the Twain were playing dice;
258 | "The Game is done! I've won, I've won!"
259 | Quoth she, and whistled thrice.
260 |
261 | A gust of wind sterte up behind
262 | And whistled thro' his bones;
263 | Thro' the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth
264 | Half-whistles and half-groans.
265 |
266 | With never a whisper in the Sea
267 | Off darts the Spectre-ship;
268 | While clombe above the Eastern bar
269 | The horned Moon, with one bright Star
270 | Almost atween the tips.
271 |
272 | One after one by the horned Moon
273 | (Listen, O Stranger! to me)
274 | Each turn'd his face with a ghastly pang
275 | And curs'd me with his ee.
276 |
277 | Four times fifty living men,
278 | With never a sigh or groan,
279 | With heavy thump, a lifeless lump
280 | They dropp'd down one by one.
281 |
282 | Their souls did from their bodies fly,--
283 | They fled to bliss or woe;
284 | And every soul it pass'd me by,
285 | Like the whiz of my Cross-bow.
286 |
287 | IV
288 |
289 | "I fear thee, ancyent Marinere!
290 | "I fear thy skinny hand;
291 | "And thou art long and lank and brown
292 | "As is the ribb'd Sea-sand.
293 |
294 | "I fear thee and thy glittering eye
295 | "And thy skinny hand so brown"--
296 | Fear not, fear not, thou wedding guest!
297 | This body dropt not down.
298 |
299 | Alone, alone, all all alone
300 | Alone on the wide wide Sea;
301 | And Christ would take no pity on
302 | My soul in agony.
303 |
304 | The many men so beautiful,
305 | And they all dead did lie!
306 | And a million million slimy things
307 | Liv'd on--and so did I.
308 |
309 | I look'd upon the rotting Sea,
310 | And drew my eyes away;
311 | I look'd upon the eldritch deck,
312 | And there the dead men lay.
313 |
314 | I look'd to Heaven, and try'd to pray;
315 | But or ever a prayer had gusht,
316 | A wicked whisper came and made
317 | My heart as dry as dust.
318 |
319 | I clos'd my lids and kept them close,
320 | Till the balls like pulses beat;
321 | For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
322 | Lay like a load on my weary eye,
323 | And the dead were at my feet.
324 |
325 | The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
326 | Ne rot, ne reek did they;
327 | The look with which they look'd on me,
328 | Had never pass'd away.
329 |
330 | An orphan's curse would drag to Hell
331 | A spirit from on high:
332 | But O! more horrible than that
333 | Is the curse in a dead man's eye!
334 | Seven days, seven nights I saw that curse
335 | And yet I could not die.
336 |
337 | The moving Moon went up the sky
338 | And no where did abide:
339 | Softly she was going up
340 | And a star or two beside--
341 |
342 | Her beams bemock'd the sultry main
343 | Like morning frosts yspread;
344 | But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
345 | The charmed water burnt alway
346 | A still and awful red.
347 |
348 | Beyond the shadow of the ship
349 | I watch'd the water-snakes:
350 | They mov'd in tracks of shining white;
351 | And when they rear'd, the elfish light
352 | Fell off in hoary flakes.
353 |
354 | Within the shadow of the ship
355 | I watch'd their rich attire:
356 | Blue, glossy green, and velvet black
357 | They coil'd and swam; and every track
358 | Was a flash of golden fire.
359 |
360 | O happy living things! no tongue
361 | Their beauty might declare:
362 | A spring of love gusht from my heart,
363 | And I bless'd them unaware!
364 | Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
365 | And I bless'd them unaware.
366 |
367 | The self-same moment I could pray;
368 | And from my neck so free
369 | The Albatross fell off, and sank
370 | Like lead into the sea.
371 |
372 | V
373 |
374 | O sleep, it is a gentle thing
375 | Belov'd from pole to pole!
376 | To Mary-queen the praise be yeven
377 | She sent the gentle sleep from heaven
378 | That slid into my soul.
379 |
380 | The silly buckets on the deck
381 | That had so long remain'd,
382 | I dreamt that they were fill'd with dew
383 | And when I awoke it rain'd.
384 |
385 | My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
386 | My garments all were dank;
387 | Sure I had drunken in my dreams
388 | And still my body drank.
389 |
390 | I mov'd and could not feel my limbs,
391 | I was so light, almost
392 | I thought that I had died in sleep,
393 | And was a blessed Ghost.
394 |
395 | The roaring wind! it roar'd far off,
396 | It did not come anear;
397 | But with its sound it shook the sails
398 | That were so thin and sere.
399 |
400 | The upper air bursts into life,
401 | And a hundred fire-flags sheen
402 | To and fro they are hurried about;
403 | And to and fro, and in and out
404 | The stars dance on between.
405 |
406 | The coming wind doth roar more loud;
407 | The sails do sigh, like sedge:
408 | The rain pours down from one black cloud
409 | And the Moon is at its edge.
410 |
411 | Hark! hark! the thick black cloud is cleft,
412 | And the Moon is at its side:
413 | Like waters shot from some high crag,
414 | The lightning falls with never a jag
415 | A river steep and wide.
416 |
417 | The strong wind reach'd the ship: it roar'd
418 | And dropp'd down, like a stone!
419 | Beneath the lightning and the moon
420 | The dead men gave a groan.
421 |
422 | They groan'd, they stirr'd, they all uprose,
423 | Ne spake, ne mov'd their eyes:
424 | It had been strange, even in a dream
425 | To have seen those dead men rise.
426 |
427 | The helmsman steerd, the ship mov'd on;
428 | Yet never a breeze up-blew;
429 | The Marineres all 'gan work the ropes,
430 | Where they were wont to do:
431 |
432 | They rais'd their limbs like lifeless tools--
433 | We were a ghastly crew.
434 |
435 | The body of my brother's son
436 | Stood by me knee to knee:
437 | The body and I pull'd at one rope,
438 | But he said nought to me--
439 | And I quak'd to think of my own voice
440 | How frightful it would be!
441 |
442 | The day-light dawn'd--they dropp'd their arms,
443 | And cluster'd round the mast:
444 | Sweet sounds rose slowly thro' their mouths
445 | And from their bodies pass'd.
446 |
447 | Around, around, flew each sweet sound,
448 | Then darted to the sun:
449 | Slowly the sounds came back again
450 | Now mix'd, now one by one.
451 |
452 | Sometimes a dropping from the sky
453 | I heard the Lavrock sing;
454 | Sometimes all little birds that are
455 | How they seem'd to fill the sea and air
456 | With their sweet jargoning,
457 |
458 | And now 'twas like all instruments,
459 | Now like a lonely flute;
460 | And now it is an angel's song
461 | That makes the heavens be mute.
462 |
463 | It ceas'd: yet still the sails made on
464 | A pleasant noise till noon,
465 | A noise like of a hidden brook
466 | In the leafy month of June,
467 | That to the sleeping woods all night
468 | Singeth a quiet tune.
469 |
470 | Listen, O listen, thou Wedding-guest!
471 | "Marinere! thou hast thy will:
472 | "For that, which comes out of thine eye, doth make
473 | "My body and soul to be still."
474 |
475 | Never sadder tale was told
476 | To a man of woman born:
477 | Sadder and wiser thou wedding-guest!
478 | Thou'lt rise to morrow morn.
479 |
480 | Never sadder tale was heard
481 | By a man of woman born:
482 | The Marineres all return'd to work
483 | As silent as beforne.
484 |
485 | The Marineres all 'gan pull the ropes,
486 | But look at me they n'old:
487 | Thought I, I am as thin as air--
488 | They cannot me behold.
489 |
490 | Till moon we silently sail'd on
491 | Yet never a breeze did breathe:
492 | Slowly and smoothly went the ship
493 | Mov'd onward from beneath.
494 |
495 | Under the keel nine fathom deep
496 | From the land of mist and snow
497 | The spirit slid: and it was He
498 | That made the Ship to go.
499 | The sails at noon left off their tune
500 | And the Ship stood still also.
501 |
502 | The sun right up above the mast
503 | Had fix'd her to the ocean:
504 | But in a minute she 'gan stir
505 | With a short uneasy motion--
506 | Backwards and forwards half her length
507 | With a short uneasy motion.
508 |
509 | Then, like a pawing horse let go,
510 | She made a sudden bound:
511 | It flung the blood into my head,
512 | And I fell into a swound.
513 |
514 | How long in that same fit I lay,
515 | I have not to declare;
516 | But ere my living life return'd,
517 | I heard and in my soul discern'd
518 | Two voices in the air,
519 |
520 | "Is it he?" quoth one, "Is this the man?
521 | "By him who died on cross,
522 | "With his cruel bow he lay'd full low
523 | "The harmless Albatross.
524 |
525 | "The spirit who 'bideth by himself
526 | "In the land of mist and snow,
527 | "He lov'd the bird that lov'd the man
528 | "Who shot him with his bow."
529 |
530 | The other was a softer voice,
531 | As soft as honey-dew:
532 | Quoth he the man hath penance done,
533 | And penance more will do.
534 |
535 | VI
536 |
537 | FIRST VOICE.
538 | "But tell me, tell me! speak again,
539 | "Thy soft response renewing--
540 | "What makes that ship drive on so fast?
541 | "What is the Ocean doing?"
542 |
543 | SECOND VOICE.
544 | "Still as a Slave before his Lord,
545 | "The Ocean hath no blast:
546 | "His great bright eye most silently
547 | "Up to the moon is cast--
548 |
549 | "If he may know which way to go,
550 | "For she guides him smooth or grim.
551 | "See, brother, see! how graciously
552 | "She looketh down on him."
553 |
554 | FIRST VOICE.
555 | "But why drives on that ship so fast
556 | "Withouten wave or wind?"
557 | SECOND VOICE.
558 | "The air is cut away before,
559 | "And closes from behind.
560 |
561 | "Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high,
562 | "Or we shall be belated:
563 | "For slow and slow that ship will go,
564 | "When the Marinere's trance is abated."
565 |
566 | I woke, and we were sailing on
567 | As in a gentle weather:
568 | 'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;
569 | The dead men stood together.
570 |
571 | All stood together on the deck,
572 | For a charnel-dungeon fitter:
573 | All fix'd on me their stony eyes
574 | That in the moon did glitter.
575 |
576 | The pang, the curse, with which they died,
577 | Had never pass'd away:
578 | I could not draw my een from theirs
579 | Ne turn them up to pray.
580 |
581 | And in its time the spell was snapt,
582 | And I could move my een:
583 | I look'd far-forth, but little saw
584 | Of what might else be seen.
585 |
586 | Like one, that on a lonely road
587 | Doth walk in fear and dread,
588 | And having once turn'd round, walks on
589 | And turns no more his head:
590 | Because he knows, a frightful fiend
591 | Doth close behind him tread.
592 |
593 | But soon there breath'd a wind on me,
594 | Ne sound ne motion made:
595 | Its path was not upon the sea
596 | In ripple or in shade.
597 |
598 | It rais'd my hair, it fann'd my cheek,
599 | Like a meadow-gale of spring--
600 | It mingled strangely with my fears,
601 | Yet it felt like a welcoming.
602 |
603 | Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
604 | Yet she sail'd softly too:
605 | Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze--
606 | On me alone it blew.
607 |
608 | O dream of joy! is this indeed
609 | The light-house top I see?
610 | Is this the Hill? Is this the Kirk?
611 | Is this mine own countree?
612 |
613 | We drifted o'er the Harbour-bar,
614 | And I with sobs did pray--
615 | "O let me be awake, my God!
616 | "Or let me sleep alway!"
617 |
618 | The harbour-bay was clear as glass,
619 | So smoothly it was strewn!
620 | And on the bay the moon light lay,
621 | And the shadow of the moon.
622 |
623 | The moonlight bay was white all o'er,
624 | Till rising from the same,
625 | Full many shapes, that shadows were,
626 | Like as of torches came.
627 |
628 | A little distance from the prow
629 | Those dark-red shadows were;
630 | But soon I saw that my own flesh
631 | Was red as in a glare.
632 |
633 | I turn'd my head in fear and dread,
634 | And by the holy rood,
635 | The bodies had advanc'd, and now
636 | Before the mast they stood.
637 |
638 | They lifted up their stiff right arms,
639 | They held them strait and tight;
640 | And each right-arm burnt like a torch,
641 | A torch that's borne upright.
642 | Their stony eye-balls glitter'd on
643 | In the red and smoky light.
644 |
645 | I pray'd and turn'd my head away
646 | Forth looking as before.
647 | There was no breeze upon the bay,
648 | No wave against the shore.
649 |
650 | The rock shone bright, the kirk no less
651 | That stands above the rock:
652 | The moonlight steep'd in silentness
653 | The steady weathercock.
654 |
655 | And the bay was white with silent light,
656 | Till rising from the same
657 | Full many shapes, that shadows were,
658 | In crimson colours came.
659 |
660 | A little distance from the prow
661 | Those crimson shadows were:
662 | I turn'd my eyes upon the deck--
663 | O Christ! what saw I there?
664 |
665 | Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat;
666 | And by the Holy rood
667 | A man all light, a seraph-man,
668 | On every corse there stood.
669 |
670 | This seraph-band, each wav'd his hand:
671 | It was a heavenly sight:
672 | They stood as signals to the land,
673 | Each one a lovely light:
674 |
675 | This seraph-band, each wav'd his hand,
676 | No voice did they impart--
677 | No voice; but O! the silence sank,
678 | Like music on my heart.
679 |
680 | Eftsones I heard the dash of oars,
681 | I heard the pilot's cheer:
682 | My head was turn'd perforce away
683 | And I saw a boat appear.
684 |
685 | Then vanish'd all the lovely lights;
686 | The bodies rose anew:
687 | With silent pace, each to his place,
688 | Came back the ghastly crew.
689 | The wind, that shade nor motion made,
690 | On me alone it blew.
691 |
692 | The pilot, and the pilot's boy
693 | I heard them coming fast:
694 | Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy,
695 | The dead men could not blast.
696 |
697 | I saw a third--I heard his voice:
698 | It is the Hermit good!
699 | He singeth loud his godly hymns
700 | That he makes in the wood.
701 | He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
702 | The Albatross's blood.
703 |
704 | VII
705 |
706 | This Hermit good lives in that wood
707 | Which slopes down to the Sea.
708 | How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
709 | He loves to talk with Marineres
710 | That come from a far Contrée.
711 |
712 | He kneels at morn and noon and eve--
713 | He hath a cushion plump:
714 | It is the moss, that wholly hides
715 | The rotted old Oak-stump.
716 |
717 | The Skiff-boat ne'rd: I heard them talk,
718 | "Why, this is strange, I trow!
719 | "Where are those lights so many and fair
720 | "That signal made but now?
721 |
722 | "Strange, by my faith!" the Hermit said--
723 | "And they answer'd not our cheer.
724 | "The planks look warp'd, and see those sails
725 | "How thin they are and sere!
726 | "I never saw aught like to them
727 | "Unless perchance it were
728 |
729 | "The skeletons of leaves that lag
730 | "My forest brook along:
731 | "When the Ivy-tod is heavy with snow,
732 | "And the Owlet whoops to the wolf below
733 | "That eats the she-wolf's young.
734 |
735 | "Dear Lord! it has a fiendish look"--
736 | (The Pilot made reply)
737 | "I am a-fear'd.--"Push on, push on!"
738 | Said the Hermit cheerily.
739 |
740 | The Boat came closer to the Ship,
741 | But I ne spake ne stirr'd!
742 | The Boat came close beneath the Ship,
743 | And strait a sound was heard!
744 |
745 | Under the water it rumbled on,
746 | Still louder and more dread:
747 | It reach'd the Ship, it split the bay;
748 | The Ship went down like lead.
749 |
750 | Stunn'd by that loud and dreadful sound,
751 | Which sky and ocean smote:
752 | Like one that hath been seven days drown'd
753 | My body lay afloat:
754 | But, swift as dreams, myself I found
755 | Within the Pilot's boat.
756 |
757 | Upon the whirl, where sank the Ship,
758 | The boat spun round and round:
759 | And all was still, save that the hill
760 | Was telling of the sound.
761 |
762 | I mov'd my lips: the Pilot shriek'd
763 | And fell down in a fit.
764 | The Holy Hermit rais'd his eyes
765 | And pray'd where he did sit.
766 |
767 | I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
768 | Who now doth crazy go,
769 | Laugh'd loud and long, and all the while
770 | His eyes went to and fro,
771 | "Ha! ha!" quoth he--"full plain I see,
772 | "The devil knows how to row."
773 |
774 | And now all in mine own Countrée
775 | I stood on the firm land!
776 | The Hermit stepp'd forth from the boat,
777 | And scarcely he could stand.
778 |
779 | "O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy Man!"
780 | The Hermit cross'd his brow--
781 | "Say quick," quoth he, "I bid thee say
782 | "What manner man art thou?"
783 |
784 | Forthwith this frame of mine was wrench'd
785 | With a woeful agony,
786 | Which forc'd me to begin my tale
787 | And then it left me free.
788 |
789 | Since then at an uncertain hour,
790 | Now oftimes and now fewer,
791 | That anguish comes and makes me tell
792 | My ghastly aventure.
793 |
794 | I pass, like night, from land to land;
795 | I have strange power of speech;
796 | The moment that his face I see
797 | I know the man that must hear me;
798 | To him my tale I teach.
799 |
800 | What loud uproar bursts from that door!
801 | The Wedding-guests are there;
802 | But in the Garden-bower the Bride
803 | And Bride-maids singing are:
804 | And hark the little Vesper-bell
805 | Which biddeth me to prayer.
806 |
807 | O Wedding-guest! this soul hath been
808 | Alone on a wide wide sea:
809 | So lonely 'twas, that God himself
810 | Scarce seemed there to be.
811 |
812 | O sweeter than the Marriage-feast,
813 | 'Tis sweeter far to me
814 | To walk together to the Kirk
815 | With a goodly company.
816 |
817 | To walk together to the Kirk
818 | And all together pray,
819 | While each to his great father bends,
820 | Old men, and babes, and loving friends,
821 | And Youths, and Maidens gay.
822 |
823 | Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
824 | To thee, thou wedding-guest!
825 | He prayeth well who loveth well
826 | Both man and bird and beast.
827 |
828 | He prayeth best who loveth best,
829 | All things both great and small:
830 | For the dear God, who loveth us,
831 | He made and loveth all.
832 |
833 | The Marinere, whose eye is bright,
834 | Whose beard with age is hoar,
835 | Is gone; and now the wedding-guest
836 | Turn'd from the bridegroom's door.
837 |
838 | He went, like one that hath been stunn'd
839 | And is of sense forlorn:
840 | A sadder and a wiser man
841 | He rose the morrow morn.
842 |
843 |
844 |
845 |
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