"The upper air burst into life!
And a hundred fire-flags sheen,[42]
To and fro they were hurried about! 315
And to and fro, and in and out,
The wan[43] stars danced between.
"And the coming wind did roar more loud,
And the sails did sigh like sedge;
And the rain poured down from one black cloud, 320
The Moon was at its edge.
"The thick black cloud was cleft, and still
The Moon was at its side:
Like waters shot from some high crag,
The lightning fell with never a jag, 325
A river steep and wide.
"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. 330
"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; 335
Yet never a breeze up blew;
The mariners all gan work[44] the ropes,
Where they were wont to do;
They raised their limbs like lifeless tools—
We were a ghastly crew. 340
"The body of my brother's son
Stood by me, knee to knee:
The body and I pulled at one rope,
But he said nought to me."
"I fear thee, ancient Mariner!" 345
"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, 350
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; 355
Slowly the sounds came back again,
Now mixed, now one by one.