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                                                Part I

It is an ancient Mariner,                                           An ancient Mariner -
And be stoppeth one of three.                                 meeteth  three  Gallants
«By thy long gray beard and glittering eye,               bidden to a wedding-feast,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?                           and detaineth one.

The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin,
The guests are met, the feast is set:
May'st hear the merry din».

He holds him with his skinny hand;
«There was a ship», quoth he.
«Hold off! unhand me, gray-beard loon»
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

He holds him with his glittering eye -
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years' child.
The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:                       The   Wedding-Guest  is
He cannot choose but hear;                                   spell-bound by the eye of
And thus spake on that ancient man.                      the old seafaring man and
The bright-eyed Mariner.                                       constrained to hear his tale.

«The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the light-house top.

The sun came up upon the left,                              The Mariner tells how the
Out of the sea came he!                                        ship sailed southward with
And he shone bright, and on the right                     a good 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,
For he heard the loud bassoon.

The bride hath paced into the hall,                         The Wedding-Guest heareth
Red as a rose is she;                                             the bridal music; but
Nodding their heads before her goes                     the Mariner continueth his
The merry minstrelsy.                                            tale.

The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

«And now the Storm-blast came, and he               The ship driven by a

Was tyrannous and strong:                                    storm toward the south
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,                       pole.
And chased us south along.

With sloping masts and dipping prow,
As who pursued with yell and blow
Still treads the shadow of his foe, 
And forward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared 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,
As green as emerald.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts                  The land of ice, and of
Did send a dismal sheen:                                      fearful sounds where no
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken -               living thing was to be seen.
The ice was all between.

The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!

At length did cross an Albatross,                           Till a great sea-bird, called
Thorough the fog it came;                                      the Albatross, came
As if it had been a Christian soul,                           through the snow-fog, and
We hailed it in God's name.                                   was received with great
                                                                             joy and hospitality.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!

And a good-south wind sprung up behind;            And lo!  the  Albatross
The Albatross did follow,                                      proveth a bird of good
And every day, for food or play,                           omen, and followeth the
Came to the mariners' hollo!                                 ship as it returned northward
                                                                            through fog and  floating ice.
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white moon-shine».

«God save thee, ancient Mariner!                         The ancient Mariner 
From the fiends, that plague thee thus! -                inhospitably killeth the prous
Why look'st thou so?» - «With my cross-bow       bird of good omen.
I shot the Albatross!»

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