Chapter 4

"I fear thee,[35] ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! 225 And thou art long, and lank, and brown,[36] 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! 230 This body dropped not down.

"Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. 235

"The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.

"I looked upon the rotting sea, 240 And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay.

"I looked to heaven and tried to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, 245 A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust.

"I closed my lids, and kept them close, And the balls like pulses beat; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky,[37] 250 Lay like a load on my weary eye, And the dead were at my feet.

"The cold sweat melted from their limbs, Nor rot nor reek did they: The look with which they looked on me 255 Had never passed away.

"An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But oh! more horrible than that Is a curse in a dead man's eye! 260 Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, And yet I could not die.

"The moving Moon went up the sky, And nowhere did abide: Softly she was going up, 265 And a star or two beside--

"Her beams bemocked the sultry main,[38] Like April hoar-frost spread; But where the ship's huge shadow lay, The charmed water burnt alway 270 A still and awful red.

"Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light 275 Fell off in hoary flakes.[39]

"Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track 280 Was a flash of golden fire.

"O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: 285 Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware.

"The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank 290 Like lead into the sea."