Annotated Ancient Mariner: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

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Then all averred, I had killed the bird That brought the fog and mist. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea. Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea! All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody sun, at noon, Right up above the mast did stand No bigger than the moon. Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink ; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot: That ever this should be!

Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea. About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils Burnt green, and blue, and white. And some in dreams assured were Of the Spirit that plagued us so; Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow.

And every tongue, through utter drought Was withered at the root; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot. Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung. Each throat Was parched, and glazed each eye. How glazed each weary eye - When looking westward, I beheld A something in the sky.

At first it seemed a little speck And then it seemed a mist ; It moved and moved , and took at last A certain shape, I wist. A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! And still it neared and neared: As if it dodged a water-sprite It plunged and tacked and veered. With throats unslaked, with black lips baked We could nor laugh nor wail ; Through utter drought all dumb we stood!

I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! With throats unslaked, with black lips baked , Agape they heard me call: I cried she tacks no more! Hither to work us weal; Without a breeze, without a tide She steadies with upright keel! The western wave was all a-flame The day was well nigh done! Almost upon the western wave Rested the broad bright sun; When that strange shape drove suddenly Betwixt us and the sun.

And straight the sun was flecked with bars Heaven's Mother send us grace! As if through a dungeon-grate he peered With broad and burning face. Are those her sails that glance in the sun Like restless gossameres?

Are those her ribs through which the sun Did peer, as through a grate? And is that Woman all her crew?

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Is that a Death? Is Death that Woman's mate? Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold.

The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out: At one stride comes the dark; 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!

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 above the eastern bar The horned moon , with one bright star Within the nether tip. 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. 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, - They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul it passed me by Like the whizz of my crossbow!

I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown As is the ribbed sea-sand. I fear thee and thy glittering eye And thy skinny hand, so brown. 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. 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 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, A wicked whisper came and made My heart as dry as dust. I closed my lids, and kept them close And the balls like pulses beat; Forthe sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky 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 Had never passed away.

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Lyrics

An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But oh! Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse And yet I could not die. The moving moon went up the sky And no where did abide: Softly she was going up And a star or two beside - Her beams bemocked the sultry main Like April hoar-frost spread; But where the ship's huge shadow lay, The charmed water burnt alway A still and awful red. Beyond the shadow of the ship I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes. Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track Was a flash of golden fire.

O happy living things! A spring of love gushed from my heart And I blessed them unaware: 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 Like lead into the sea. To Mary Queen the praise be given! She sent the gentle sleep from heaven That slid into my soul. The silly buckets on the deck That had so long remained, I dreamt that they were filled with dew; And when I awoke, it rained.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

My lips were wet, my throat was cold, My garments all were dank; Sure I had drunken in my dreams, And still my body drank. I moved, and could not feel my limbs: 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; 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 To and fro they were hurried about! And to and fro, and in and out The wan 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; 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, A river steep and wide. The loud wind never reached the ship Yet now the ship moved on! Beneath the lightning and the moon The dead men gave a groan.

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 annotated ancient mariner : the rime of the ancient mariner

The helmsman steered, the ship moved on; Yet never a breeze up blew; The mariners all 'gan work the ropes Where they were wont to do; They raised their limbs like lifeless tools - We were a ghastly crew. 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. For when it dawned -they dropped their arms And clustered round the mast; Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths And from their bodies passed. Around, around, flew each sweet sound Then darted to the sun; Slowly the sounds came back again, Now mixed, now one by one.

Sometimes a-dropping from the sky I heard the skylark sing; Sometimes all little birds that are, How they seemed to fill the sea and air With their sweet jargoning! And now 'twas like all instruments, Now like a lonely flute; And now it is an angel's song That makes the heavens be mute. It ceased; yet still the sails made on A pleasant noise till noon, A noise like of a hidden brook In the leafy month of June, That to the sleeping woods all night Singeth a quiet tune. Till noon we quietly sailed on Yet never a breeze did breathe; Slowly and smoothly went the ship, Moved onward from beneath.

Under the keel nine fathom deep From the land of mist and snow The spirit slid: The sails at noon left off their tune And the ship stood still also.

The annotated ancient mariner : the rime of the ancient mariner (Book, ) [bahana-line.com]

The sun, right up above the mast Had fixed her to the ocean: But in a minute she 'gan stir With a short uneasy motion - Backwards and forwards half her length With a short uneasy motion. Then like a pawing horse let go She made a sudden bound: It flung the blood into my head And I fell down in a swound. How long in that same fit I lay I have not to declare; But ere my living life returned, I heard and in my soul discerned Two voices in the air. By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross. The spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow.

What is the ocean doing? Second Voice Still as a slave before his lord The ocean hath no blast; His great bright eye most silently Up to the moon is cast - If he may know which way to go; For she guides him smooth or grim See, brother, see! First Voice But why drives on that ship so fast Without or wave or wind?

Second Voice The air is cut away before And closes from behind. Or we shall be belated: For slow and slow that ship will go When the Mariner's trance is abated. All stood together on the deck For a charnel-dungeon fitter: All fixed on me their stony eyes That in the moon did glitter. The pang, the curse, with which they died Had never passed away: Please enter your name. The E-mail message field is required. Please enter the message. Please verify that you are not a robot. Would you also like to submit a review for this item?

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