"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.

"The moving Moon went up the sky,

And nowhere did abide :

Softly she was going up,

And a star or two beside.

"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! no tongue Their beauty might declare :

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.

"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 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 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."

"I fear thee, ancient Mariner !"
“Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!
'T was not those souls that fled in pain,
Which to their corses came again,
But a troop of spirits blest.

"Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too;

Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze

On me alone it blew.

"Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed

The light-house top I see?

Is this the hill? is this the kirk?

Is this mine own countree?

"Since then, at an uncertain hour,
My agony returns :

And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.

"I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,

I know the man that must hear me :
To him my tale I teach.

"What loud uproar bursts from that door!

The wedding-guests are there :

But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are:
And hark the little vesper bell,
Which biddeth me to prayer!

"O sweeter than the marriage-feast, 'Tis sweeter far to me,

To walk together to the kirk

With a goodly company!

"To walk together to the kirk,

And all together pray,

While each to his great Father bends,

Old men, and babes, and loving friends,

And youths and maidens gay!

"Farewell, farewell! but this I tell To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!

He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

"He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."

S. T. Coleridge

XXXIX

SONG OF ARIEL

'OME unto these yellow sands,

COM

And then take hands,

Curtsied when you have and kiss'd;

(The wild waves whist) —

Foot it featly here and there;

And, sweet sprites, the burden bear.

Hark, hark!

Bough wough,

The watch dogs bark,

Bough wough,

Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticleer,

Cry, cock-a-doodle-doo.

W. Shakespeare

H

XL

HOW'S MY BOY?

O, sailor of the sea!

How's my boy - my boy? 'What's your boy's name, good wife, And in what good ship sail'd he?'

My boy John

He that went to sea

What care I for the ship, sailor?

My boy's my boy to me.

You come back from sea

And not know my John?

I might as well have asked some landsman

Yonder down in the town.

There's not an ass in all the parish

But he knows my John.

How's my boy - my boy?
And unless you let me know
I'll swear you are no sailor,
Blue jacket or no,

Brass button or no, sailor,
Anchor and crown or no!

Sure his ship was the Folly Briton ·
'Speak low, woman, speak low!'

And why should I speak low, sailor?
About my own boy John?
If I was loud as I am proud
I'd sing him over the town!