Essentially the Only One

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn :
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.

And thus we come to the end of The Mariner.

What a great poem it is indeed.

But be sure to read Lokutus Prime's fabulous parody version, in continuing process on his splendid web site!

14 Comments

Monday, 22. September 2008, 01:42:31

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone : and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

Sunday, 21. September 2008, 02:49:35

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small ;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

6 Comments

Saturday, 20. September 2008, 02:28:06

Farewell, farewell ! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest !
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

Friday, 19. September 2008, 01:39:35

To walk together to the kirk,
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends
And youths and maidens gay !

7 Comments

Thursday, 18. September 2008, 01:57:09

O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
'Tis sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company !--

Wednesday, 17. September 2008, 12:08:59

O Wedding-Guest ! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea :
So lonely 'twas, that God himself
Scarce seeméd there to be.

4 Comments

Tuesday, 16. September 2008, 11:54:24

What loud uproar bursts from that door !
The wedding-guests are there :
But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are :
And hark the little vesper bell,
Which biddeth me to prayer !

Monday, 15. September 2008, 12:58:01

I pass, like night, from land to land ;
I have strange power of speech ;
That moment that his face I see,
I know the man that must hear me :
To him my tale I teach.

Sunday, 14. September 2008, 02:41:23

Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, poetry

Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns :
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.

I think I am beginning to understand how he feels after months and months of this!

10 Comments

Saturday, 13. September 2008, 02:19:44

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale ;
And then it left me free.

10 Comments

Friday, 12. September 2008, 00:10:26

`O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man !'
The Hermit crossed his brow.
`Say quick,' quoth he, `I bid thee say--
What manner of man art thou ?'

11 Comments

Thursday, 11. September 2008, 02:03:37

And now, all in my own countree,
I stood on the firm land !
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.

poetry, Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Wednesday, 10. September 2008, 02:15:01

I took the oars : the Pilot's boy,
Who now doth crazy go,
Laughed loud and long, and all the while
His eyes went to and fro.
`Ha ! ha !' quoth he, `full plain I see,
The Devil knows how to row.'

9 Comments

Tuesday, 9. September 2008, 01:05:09

I moved my lips--the Pilot shrieked
And fell down in a fit ;
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
And prayed where he did sit.

7 Comments

Monday, 8. September 2008, 03:05:45

Upon the whirl, where sank the ship,
The boat spun round and round ;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.

Sunday, 7. September 2008, 04:01:45

Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound,
Which sky and ocean smote,
Like one that hath been seven days drowned
My body lay afloat ;
But swift as dreams, myself I found
Within the Pilot's boat.

Saturday, 6. September 2008, 02:05:02

Under the water it rumbled on,
Still louder and more dread :
It reached the ship, it split the bay ;
The ship went down like lead.

6 Comments

Friday, 5. September 2008, 02:16:05

The boat came closer to the ship,
But I nor spake nor stirred ;
The boat came close beneath the ship,
And straight a sound was heard.