primitive in its ceremonies, unequalled in its liturgical England, in a tolerating age, has shown herself emiforms; that our Church, which has kindled and dis- nently tolerant, and far more so, both in Spirit and in played more bright and burning lights of Genius and fact, that many of her most bitter opponents, who Learning, than all other Protestant churches since profess to deem toleration itself an insult on the the Reformation, was (with the single exception of rights of mankind! As to myself, who not only know the times of Laud and Sheldon) least intolerant, the Church-Establishment to be tolerant, but who when all Christians unhappily deemed a species of see in it the greatest, if not the sole safe bulwark of intolerance their religious duty; that Bishops of our Toleration, I feel no necessity of defending or palchurch were among the first that contended against liating oppressions under the two Charleses, in order this error; and finally, that since the Reformation, to exclaim with a full and fervent heart, ESTO PERwhen tolerance became a fashion, the Church of PETUA!

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

IN SEVEN PARTS.

Facile credo, plures esse Naturas invisibiles quam visibiles in rerum universitate. Sed horum omnium familiam quis nobis enarrabit ? et gradus et cognationes et discrimina et singulorum munera ? Quid agunt ? quæ loca habitant ? Haram rerum notitiam semper ambivit ingenium humanum, nunquam attigit. Juvat, interea, non diffiteor, quandoque in animo, tanquam in tabulâ, majoris et melioris mundi imaginem contemplari: ne mens assuefacta hodiernæ vitæ minutiis se contrahat nimis, et tota subsidat in pusillas cogitationes. Sed veritati interea invigilandum est, modusque servandus, ut certa ab incertis, diem a nocte, distinguamus.-T. BURNET: Archæol. Phil. p. 68.

one.

he

66

PART I.

The bride hath paced into the hall, The wedding-
Red as a rose is she;

guest heareth the An ancient Mari- It is an ancient Mariner,

bridal music; but ner moeteth three And he stoppeth one of three :

Nodding their heads before her goes the Mariner congallants bidden to

tinueth his tale. a wedding-feast,“ By thy long gray beard and glitter. The merry minstrelsy. and detaineth ing eye,

The Wedding-Guest he beat his
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ? breast,

Yet he cannot choose but hear;
“ The Bridegroom's doors are open'dAnd thus spake on that ancient man,
wide,

The bright-eyed Mariner.
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set : And now the STORM-BLAST came, and the ship drawn

by a storm toward
Mayst hear the merry dm.”
Was tyrannous and strong:

the south pole
He holds him with his skinny hand: He struck with his o'ertaking wings,
“ There was a ship," quoth he. And chased us south along.
Hold off! unhand me, gray-beard With sloping masts and dripping prow,
loon!”

As who pursued with yell and blow
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

Still treads the shadow of his foe,
The wedding He holds him with his glittering eye- And forward bends his head,
guest is spell-
The Wedding-Guest stood still,

The ship drove fast, loud roard the
bound by the eye
of the old seafar. And listens like a three-years' child; blast,
ing man, and con- The Mariner hath his will. And southward aye we fed.
strained to hear
bis tale.
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone,

And now there came both mist and
He cannot choose but hear;

snow,
And thus spake on that ancient man,

Aud it grew wondrous cold;
The bright-eyed mariner.

And ice, mast-high, came floating by,

As green as emerald.
The ship was cheer'd, the harbor And through the drifts the snowy clifts The land of ice,
clear'd,
Did send a dismal sheen:

and of fearful
Merrily did we drop
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we living thing was

sounds, where no Below the kirk, below the hill,

ken

to be seen. Below the light-house top.

The ice was all between. The Mariner tells The Sun came up upon the left, The ice was here, the ice was there, how the ship gail- Out of the sea came he!

The ice was all around : with a good wind And he shone bright, and on the right It crack'd and growl'd, and roard and and fair weather, Went down into the sea.

howl'a, till it reached the lino Higher and higher every day, Like noises in a swound!

Til a great sea Till over the mast at noon

bird, called the At length did cross an Albatross :

Albatross, came The Wedding-Guest here beat his Thorough the fog it came ;

through the snow breast,

As if it had been a Christian soul, fog, and was reFor be heard the loud bassoon. We hail'd it in God's name.

It ate the food it ne'er had eat, Day after day, day after day,
And round and round it flew. We stuck, nor breath nor motion ;
The ice did split with a thunder-fit; As idle as a painted ship
The helmsman steer'd us through! Upon a painted ocean.

omen.

And lo! the Al- And a good south-wind sprung up Water, water, everywhere,

And the Alba batross proveth behind ;

And all the boards did shrink : tross begins to be a bird of good The Albatross did follow, Water, water, everywhere,

avenged. omen, and followeth the ship as it And every day, for food or play, Nor any drop to drink. returned north- Came to the mariner's hollo! ward through fog

The very deep did rot: 0 Christ! and floating ice. In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, That ever this should be!

It perch'd for vespers nine; Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Whiles all the night, through fog. Upon the slimy sea.

smoke white,
Glimmer'd the white moon-shine. About, about, in reel and rout

The death-fires danced at night;
The ancient Mari: “God save thee, ancient Mariner! The water, like a witch's oils,
per inhospitably From the fiends, that plague thce Burnt green, and blue and white.
killeth the pious

thus! bird of good

A spirit had folWhy look'st thou so?"-With my And some in dreams assured were Jowed them; one cross-bow

Of the spirit that plagued us so ; of the invisible in
I shot the ALBATROSS.

Nine fathom deep he had follow'd us habitants of this
From the land of mist and snow.

planet,--neither PART II.

departed souls

por angels; con The Sun now rose upon the right: cerning whom the learned Jew, Josephus, and the Platonic Out of the sea came he,

Constantinopolitan, Michael Psellus, may be consulted. "They Still hid in mist, and on the left

are very numerous, and there is no climate or element without

one or more.
Went down into the sea.
And the good south-wind still blew And every tongue, through utter
behind,

drought,
But no sweet bird did follow,

Was wither'd at the root;
Nor any day for food or play

We could not speak, no more than if
Came to the mariner's hollo!
We had been choked with soot.

The shipmates, in His shipmates cry And I had done an hellish thing,

Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks

their sore distress

would fain throw out against the And it would work 'em woe:

Had I from old and young!

the whole guilt on ancient Mariners For all averr'd, I had kill'd the bird Instead of the cross, the Albatross the ancient Mar the bird

iner in sign of good-lock.

About my neck was hung.
That made the breeze to blow.

whereof they Ah wretch! said they, the bird to

bang the dead slay,

sea-bird round That made the brecze to blow!

PART III

his neck. But when the fog Nor dim nor red, like God's own THERE pass'd a weary time. Each cleared off, they head,

throat justify the same. The glorious Sun uprist :

Was parch'd, and glazed each eye. and the make themselves ac

Then all averr’d, I had kill'd the bird A weary time! a weary time! complices in the That brought the fog and mist.

How glazed each weary eye,

The ancient Macrime. "T was right, said they, such birds to When looking westward, i beheld

riner beholdeth a slay A something in the sky.

sign in the eleThat bring the fog and mist.

ment afar off.

At first it seem'd a little speck, The fair breeze The fair breeze blew, the white foam And then it seem'd a mist; continues ; the flew,

It moved and moved, and took at last ship enters the Pacific Ocean and The furrow follow'd free;

A certain shape, I wist. sails northward. We were the first that ever burst even till it reach Into that silent sea.

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! es the Line.

And still it neard and near'd : The ship hath Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt As if it dodged a water-sprite, beer soddenly down,

It plunged and tack'd and veer'd. becalmned. 'Twas sad as sad could be ; And we did speak only to break With throats unslaked, with black At its nearer ap

proach, it neemThe silence of the sea !

lips baked,

eth him to be a We could nor laugh nor wail;

ship ; and at a All in a hot and copper sky, a

Through utter drought all dumb we dear ransom he

stood; The bloody Sun, at noon,

freeth his speech

from the bonds of Right up above the mast did stand, I bit my arm, I suck'd the blood,

thirst.
No bigger than the Moon.
And cried, A sail! a sail !

71

With throats unslaked, with black |One after one, by the star-dogged One after anlips baked,

Moon,

other,
Agape they heard me call; Too quick for groan or sigh,
A Aash of joy. Gramercy! they for joy did grin, Each turn'd his face with a ghastly
And all at once their breath drow in,

pang,
As they were drinking all. And cursed me with his eye.
And horror fol- See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more! Four times fifty living men

His shipmates lows: for can it be Hither to work us weal;

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan),

drop down dead a ship, that comes onward without Without a breeze, without a tide,

With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, wind or tide ? She steadies with upright keel ! They dropp'd down one by one.

The western wave was all a flame, The souls did from their bodies fly, But Life-in-
The day was well-nigh done,
They fted to bliss or woe!

Death begins her
Almost upon the western wave

work on the anAnd every soul, it pass'd me by

cient Mariner. Rested the broad bright Sun; Like the whizz of my cross-Bow! When that strange shape drove suddenly

PART IV. Betwixt us and the Sun. "I Fear thee, ancient Mariner! The wedding

guest feareth that It seemeth him And straight the Sun was fleck'd I fear thy skinny hand !

a spirit is talking but the skeleton with bars,

And thou art long, and lank, and to him; of a ship.

(Heaven's Mother send us grace! brown,
As if through a dungeon-grate he As is the ribb'd sea-sand.*

peer'd
With broad and burning face.

" I fear thee and thy glittering eye,

And thy skinny hand so brown.”Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding. But the ancient loud)

Guest!

Mariner assureth How fast she nears and nears!

him of his bodily This body dropt not down.

life, and proceedAre those her sails that glance in the

eth to relate his Sun, Alone, alone, all, all alone,

horrible ponance. Like restless gossameres?

Alone on a wide wide sea!

And nover a saint took pity on And its ribs are Are those her ribs through which the My soul in agony. seen as bars on

Sun the face of the

Did peer, as through a grate; The many men, so beautiful! Ile despiseth the Betting Sun.

creatures of the And is that woman all her crew ? And they all dead did lie:

calm. The spectre- Is that a DEATH, and are there two ? And a thousand thousand slimy woman and her Is DEATH that woman's mate?

things death-mate, and

Lived on; and so did I. no other on board Her lips were red, her looks were the skeleton-ship. Like vessel, like free, I look'd upon the rotting sea,

And envieth that crew! Her locks were yellow as gold : And drew my eyes away ;

they should live, Her skin was as white as leprosy,

and so many lie The Night-Mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was And there the dead men lay. I look'd upon the rotting deck,

dead.
she,

Who thicks man's blood with cold. I look'd to Heaven, and tried to pray;
Death, and Life-
The naked hulk alongside came,

But or ever a prayer had gush'd,
in Death have
diced for the
And the twain were casting dice;

A wicked whisper came, and made ship's crew, and

“ The game is done! I've won, I've My heart as dry as dust. she (the latter) winncth the an

I closed my lids, and kept them close, cient Mariner. Quoth she, and whistles thrice.

And the balls like pulses beat; No twilight The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush For the sky and the sea, and the sea within the courts

and the sky,
out:
of the sun.
At one stride comes the Dark;

Lay like a load on my weary eye
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea

And the dead were at my feet.
Off shot the spectre-bark.

The cold sweat melted from their But the curse livAt the rising of We listen'd and look'd sideways up!

limbs,

eth for bim in the the moon, Fear at my heart, as at a cup, Nor rot nor reek did they;

eye of the dead

(me
My life-blood seem'd to sip!

The look with which they look'd on
The stars were dim, and thick the Had never pass'd away.

night,
The steersman's face by his lamp An orphan's curse would drag to Hell
gleam'd white;

A spirit from on high;
From the sails the dew did drip-
Till clomb above the castern bar
The horned Moon, with one bright Wordsworth. It was on a delightful walk from Nother Stowey

For the two last lines of this stanza, I am indebted to Mr.

won!”

men.

But oh! more horrible than that And soon I heard a roaring wind :

He heareth Is a curse in a dead man's eye! It did not come anear;

sounds and soeth

strange sights Seven days, seven nights, I saw that But with its sound it shook the sails, and commotions curse. That were so thin and sere.

in the sky and And yet I could not die.

the element. In his loneliness The moving Moon went up the sky, And a hundred fire-flags sheen,

The upper air burst into life! and fixednese he reareth towards And nowhere did abide :

To and fro they were hurried about! the journeying Softly she was going up,

And w and fro, and in and out, Moon, and the And a star or two beside

The wan stars danced between. stars that still sojourn, yet still move onward ; and everywhere the blue sky belongs to them, and is their appointed rest, and their native And the coming wind did roar more country and their own natural homes, which they enter unan

loud,
nounced, as lords that are certainly expected, and yet there is and the sails did sigh like sedge ;
a silent joy at their arrival.

And the rain pour'd down from one
Her beams bemock’d the sultry main, The Moon was at its edge.'

black cloud ;
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship’s huge shadow The thick black cloud was cleft, and
lay,

still
The charmed water burnt alway

The Moon was at its side:
A still and awful red.

Like waters shot from some high crag,
By the light of Beyond the shadow of the ship The lightning fell with never a jag,
the Moon he be I watch'd the water-snakes : A river steep and wide.
holdeth God's
creatures of the They moved in tracks of shining
great calm.
white,

The loud wind never reach'd the The bodies of the And when they rear'd, the elfish light ship,

ship's crew are

inspired, and the Fell off in hoary flakes. Yet now the ship moved on!

ship moves on;
Beneath the lightning and the Moon
Within the shadow of the ship The dead men gave a groan.
I watch'd their rich attire :
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They groan'd, they stirr'd, they all
They coil'd and swam; and every uprose,
track

Nor spake, nor moved their eyes;
Was a flash of golden fire.

It had been strange, even in a dream,
Their beauty and happy living things! no tongue

To have seen those dead men rise. their happiness. Their beauty might declare :

The helmsman steer'd, the ship
A spring of love gush'd from my

moved on ;
heart,
He blesseth them And I bless'd them unaware :

Yet never a breeze up blew;
in bis beart.
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,

The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
And I bless'd them unaware.

Where they were wont to do;

They raised their limbs like liseless The spell begins The self-same moment I could pray ;

tools
to break
And from my neck so free

-We were a ghastly crew.
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.

The body of brother's son

Stood by me, knee to knee :
PART V.

The body and I pull’d at one rope,
OH Sleep! it is a gentle thing, But he said nought to me.
Beloved from pole to pole!
To Mary Queen the praise be given! “ 1 fear thee, ancient Mariner!” But not by the
She sent the gentle sleep from Be calm, thou Wedding-guest!

souls of the men,
Heaven,
"T was not those souls that fled in nor by dæmons of

earth or middle That slid into my soul.

pain,

air, but by a By grace of the The silly buckets on the deck,

Which to their corses came again, blessed troop of

angelic spirits, holy Mother, the That had so long remain'd, (dew; But a troop of spirits blest:

sent down by the ancient Mariner

invocation of the in refreshed with I dreamt that they were fill'd with

For when it dawn'd- they dropp'd guardian saint. rain. And when I awoke, it rain'd.

their arms,
My lips were wet, my throat was cold, And cluster'd round the mast;
My garments all were dank; Sweet sounds rose slowly through
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,

their mouths,
And still my body drank.

And from their bodies pass'd.
I moved, and could not feel my Around, around, flew each sweet
limbs :

sound,
I was so light-almost

Then darted to the Sun;
I thought that I had died in sleep,

Slowly the sounds came back again,
And was a blessed ghost.

Now mix'd, now one by one.

air,

Sometimes, a-drooping from the sky,

PART VI.
I heard the sky-lark sing;

FIRST VOICE.
Sometimes all little birds that are,
How they seem'd to fill the sea and But tell me, tell me ! speak again,

Thy soft response renewing-
With their sweet jargoning !

What makes that ship drive on so

fast?
And now 't was like all instruments,

What is the OCEAN doing ?
Now like a lonely flute;

SECOND VOICE.
And now it is an angel's song, Still as a slave before his lord,
That makes the Heavens be mute. The OCEAN hath no blast;

His great bright eye most silently
It ceased ; yet still the sails made on Up to the Moon is cast,
A pleasant noise till noon,
A noise like of a hidden brook If he may know which way to go ;
In the leafy month of June, For she guides him smooth or grim.
That to the sleeping woods all night See, brother, see! how graciously
Singeth a quiet tune.

She looketh down on him.

anew

FIRST VOICE.
Till noon we quietly sailed on,
Yet never a breeze did breathe :
But why drives on that ship so fast, The Mariner bath

been cast into a
Slowly and smoothly went the ship, Without or wave or wind ?

trance; for the Moved onward from beneath.

angelic power SECOND VOICE.

causeth the verThe air is cut away before,

sel to drive north The lonesome Under the keel nine fathom deep,

And closes from behind.

ward faster than spirit from the From the land of mist and snow,

human life could south-pole carries The spirit slid : and it was he

enduro on the ship as far

Fly, brother, fly! more high, more as the line, in That made the ship to go.

high! obedience to the The sails at noon left off their tune, Or we shall be belated : angelic troop, but And the ship stood still also. Atill requireth

For slow and slow that ship will go, vengeance.

When the Mariner's trance is abated.
The Sun, right up above the mast,
Had fix'd her to the ocean :

I woke, and we were sailing on The supernatural
But in a minute she 'gan stir, As in a gentle weather :

motion is retard With a short uneasy motion”T was night, calm night, the Moon ed; the Mariner

awakes, and his Backwards and forwards half her

was high ;

penance begins
length

The dead men stood together.
With a short uneasy motion.

All stood together on the deck,
Then like a pawing horse let go, For a charnel-dungeon fitter :
She made a sudden bound :

All fix'd on me their stony eyes,
It flung the blood into my head, That in the Moon did glitter.
And I fell down in a swound.

The pang, the curse, with which they
The Polar Spirit's How long in that same fit I lay,

died, fellow dæmons, I have not to declare ;

Had never pass'd away : the invisible inhabitants of the

But ere my living life return'd, I could not draw my eyes from theirs, element, take part I heard and in my soul discern'd

Nor turn them up to pray. in his wrong i

Two VOICES in the air. and two of them

And now this spell was snapt : once The curse is firelate, one to the

nally expiated.

more other, that pen

* Is it he?" quoth one, “Is this the ance long and man?

I view'd the ocean green, heavy for the an- By him who died on cross,

And look'd far forth, yet little saw cient Mariner hath been accord. With his cruel bow he laid full low of what had else been seened to the Polar The harmless Albatross. Spirit, who re

Like one, that on a lonesome road turneth south

“ The spirit who bideth by himself Doth walk in fear and dread,
ward.
In the land of mist and snow,

And having once turn'd round walks
He loved the bird that loved the on,

And turns no more his head ;
Who shot him with his bow." Because he knows, a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread.
The other was a softer voice,
As soft as honeydew :

But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Quoth he, “The man hath penance Nor sound nor motion made :
done,'

Its path was not upon the sea,
And penance more will do." In ripple or in shade.

74

man