Till noon we silently sail'd on Yet never a breeze did breathe : Slowly and smoothly went the ship Under the keel nine fathom deep The spirit slid and it was He : That made the Ship to go. The sails at noon left off their tune The sun right up above the mast But in a minute she 'gan stir With a short uneasy motion— Backwards and forwards half her length With a short uneasy motion. 2 Then, like a pawing horse let go, She made a sudden bound : It flung the blood into my head, How long in that same fit I lay, But ere my living life return'd, I heard and in my soul discern'd Two voices in the air, "Is it he? quoth one, "Is this the man? "The harmless Albatross. "The spirit who 'bideth by himself "He lov'd the bird that lov'd the man "Who shot him with his bow. C The other was a softer voice, As soft as honey-dew : Quoth he the man hath penance done, And penance more will do. .. VI. FIRST VOICE. "But tell me, tell me! speak again, 66 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, "She looketh down on him. First Voice. "But why drives on that ship so fast "Withouten wave or wind? Second Voice. "The air is cut away before, "And closes from behind. "Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high, "Or we shall be belated: "For slow and slow that ship will go, "When the Marinere's trance is abated." |