Then Christabel knelt by the lady's side, Again the wild-flower wine she drank: And thus the lofty lady spake- And you love them, and for their sake Quoth Christabel, 'So let it be!' But through her brain of weal and woe Beneath the lamp the lady bow'd, The cincture from beneath her breast: Yet Geraldine nor speaks nor stirs ; And with low voice and doleful look 'In the touch of this bosom there worketh a spell, For this is alone in Thy power to declare, That in the dim forest Thou heard'st a low moaning, And found'st a bright lady, surpassingly fair; and in charity, To shield her and shelter her from the damp air. An ancient Mariner THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. IN SEVEN PARTS. PART I. It is an ancient Mariner, meeteth three And he stoppeth one of three. Gallants bid den to a wed ding-feast, and detaineth one. The Wedding-Guest is spell-bound by the eye of the old seafaring-man, and constrained to hear his tale. The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with a good "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? 'The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide, The guests are met, the feast is set : He holds him with his skinny hand, 'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!' He holds him with his glittering eye The Wedding-Guest stood still, The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner. 'The ship was cheer'd, the harbour clear'd, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the light-house top. The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right wind and fair Went down into the sea, weather, till it reached the line. 'Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon-' The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, The bride hath paced into the hall, Nodding their heads before her goes The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, 'And now the storm-blast came, and he He struck with his o'ertaking wings, With sloping masts and dipping prow, The ship drove fast, loud roar'd the blast, And southward aye we fled. And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold; And ice, mast-high, came floating by, And through the drifts the snowy clifts Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken- The ice was here, the ice was there, It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd, The Wedding-Guest heareth the bridal music; but the Mariner continueth his tale. The ship drawn by a storm toward the south pole. The land of ice, and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen. An ancient Mariner meeteth three Gallants bid den to a wed ding-feast, and detaineth one. The Wedding-Guest is spell-bound by the eye of the old seafaring-man, and constrained to hear his tale. The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with a good THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. IN SEVEN PARTS. PART I. It is an ancient Mariner, By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, 'The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide, The guests are met, the feast is set : He holds him with his skinny hand, 'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!' He holds him with his glittering eye- And listens like a three years' child : The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner. 'The ship was cheer'd, the harbour clear'd, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the light-house top. The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he! And he shone bright, and on the right wind and fair Went down into the sea, weather, till it reached the line. |