XIII THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE PART I The most original poet and influential thinker of his day was SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGEborn in Devonshire, England, 1772; died, 1834. The magnetism of his personality helped to develop the gifts of Southey, Wordsworth, and Lamb. The fine art of his best poetry is unsurpassed by any English verse yet written. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the only poem of length that he completed, is the highest of all poetry of its kind. "Christabel " and "Kubla Khan," both incomplete, are splendid specimens of brilliant imagery and exquisite versification. His "Ode to Mt. Blanc," is one of the most sublime poems in any language. Coleridge was the first critic of his day. By his lectures on Shakespeare he did more than any other man of his generation to spread a true knowledge of the great dramatist. The Wedding-Guest is spellbound by the eye of the old sea-faring man, and constrained to hear his tale. The Bridegroom's doors are open'd wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: He holds him with his skinny hand, 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 Wedding-Guest sat on a stone: And thus spake on that ancient man, "The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared, Merrily did we drop Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top. eftsoons: immediately. The Mariner tells how the ship sailed southward with a good wind and fair weather, till it reached the Line. The sun came up upon the left, And he shone bright, and on the right The Wedding-Guest The bride hath paced into the hall, heareth the bridal music; but the Mari Red as a rose is she; ner continueth his Nodding their heads before her goes The merry minstrelsy. tale. The ship driven by a storm toward the south pole. The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast, Yet he cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, "And now the Storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong; He struck with his o'ertaking wings, bassoon: musical instrument, used at the wedding. The land of ice, and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen. With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow The ship drove fast, loud roar'd the 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 Did send a dismal sheen: Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken The ice was all between. The ice was here, the ice was there, It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd Like noises in a swound! clifts: clefts. At length did cross an Albatross: As if it had been a Christian soul, It ate the food it ne'er had eat, And a good south wind sprang up And the Albatross did follow, In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, Glimmer'd the white Moonshine." "God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus! Why look'st thou so?"-" With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross." thorough: through. shroud: rope. vespers: evenings, |