‘One after one, by the star-dogg’d Moon, Too quick for groan or sigh, Each turn’d his face with a ghastly pang, And cursed me with his eye.
‘Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one.
‘The souls did from their bodies fly,— They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it pass’d me by, Like the whizz of my cross-bow!’
PART IV ‘I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown As is the ribbed sea-sand.
‘I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand, so brown.’— ‘Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest! This body dropt not down.
‘Alone, alone, all all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.
‘The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.
‘I look’d upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I look’d upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay.
‘I look’d 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.
