THE moving Moon went up the sky,
And nowhere did abide;
Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside—
Her beams bemock’d the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship’s huge shadow lay,
The charmèd water burnt alway
A still and awful red.
By the light of the Moon he beholdeth God’s creatures of the great calm.
BEYOND the shadow of the ship,
I watch’d the water-snakes:
They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they rear’d, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.
Within the shadow of the ship
I watch’d their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coil’d and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.
Their beauty and their happiness.
He blesseth them in his heart.
O HAPPY living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gush’d from my heart,
And I bless’d them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I bless’d them unaware.
The spell begins to break.
THE selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.