But not by the souls of the men, nor by dæmons of earth or middle air, but by a blessed troop of angelic spirits, sent down by the invocation

of the guardian saint.

"I fear thee, ancient Mariner !"

Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!

"Twas not those souls that fled in pain,
Which to their corses came again,

But a troop of spirits blest:

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 sky-lark sing;

Sometimes all little birds that are,

How they seem'd 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 and it was he
That made the ship to go.

The sails at noon left off their tune,

And the ship stood still also.

The lonesome spirit from the south-pole carries on the ship as far as the line, in obedience to

the angelic troop, but

still requireth

vengeance.

The PolarSpirit's fellowdæmons, the invisible inhabitants of the element, take part in his wrong; and two of them relate, ⚫one to the other, that penance long and heavy for the ancient

Mariner hath

been accord

ed to the

The Sun, right up above the mast,
Had fixt 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.

"Is it he?"quoth one," Is this the man? By him who died on cross,

With his cruel bow he laid full low,

The harmless Albatross.

Polar Spirit, who returneth southward.

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."

The other was a softer voice,

As soft as honey-dew:

Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do."

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER.

PART THE SIXTH.

FIRST VOICE.

BUT tell me, tell me! speak again,

Thy soft response renewing—

What makes that ship drive on so fast?

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! how graciously
She looketh down on him.