10. God save thee, ancient Mariner,

From the fiends that plague thee thus !
Why look'st thou so ?—With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.

11. The sun now rose upon the right; Out of the sea came he,

Still hid in mist, and on the left

Went down into the sea.

12. And the good south wind still blew behind,

But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day, for food or play,
Came to the Mariners' hollo!

13. And I had done a hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe;

For all averred I had killed the bird

That made the breeze to blow.

"Ah, wretch!" said they,

"the bird to slay

That made the breeze to blow!"

14. Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious sun 'uprist;

Then all averred I had killed the bird

That brought the fog and mist.

""Twas right," said they, “such birds to slay That bring the fog and mist."

15. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free;

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

16. Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,

'Twas sad as sad could be;

And we did speak only to break

The silence of the sea!

17. All in a hot and copper sky,

The bloody sun, at noon,

Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.

[rose up

18. Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

19. Water, water everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

20. The very deep did rot: alas!
That ever this should be!

Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.

21. About, about, in reel or rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue, and white.

22. And some in dreams assured were
Of the spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow.

23 And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;

We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.

24. Ah, well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!

Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

ANSWER TO A CHILD'S QUESTION.

Do you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove,
The linnet, and thrush say, 66 I love, and I love!"
In the winter they're silent, the wind is so strong;
What it says I don't know, but it sings a loud song.

But green leaves, and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing and loving—all come back together;
But the lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
That he sings, and he sings, and for ever sings he,
I love my Love, and my Love loves me."

19

ཅ

THE INCHCAPE BELL.

1. No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The ship was still as ship might be ;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

2. Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flowed over the Inchcape Rock ;1

1 Inchcape Rock, a dangerous rock, twenty miles from the coast of Forfarshire. Thc Bell Rock lighthouse now stands on it.

So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape bell.

3. The worthy abbot of Aberbrothock1

Had floated that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On the waves of the storm it floated and swung,
And louder and louder its warning rung.

4. When the rock was hid by the tempest's swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell ;
And then they knew the perilous rock,
And blessed the priest of Aberbrothock.

5. The float of the Inchcape bell was seen,
A darker speck on the ocean green :
Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck,
And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.

6. His eye was on the bell and float:2

Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I'll plague the priest of Aberbrothock."

7. The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go :
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And cut the warning-bell from the float.

8. Down sank the bell with a gurgling sound,

The bubbles arose and burst around:

[pirate.

Quoth Sir Ralph, "The next who comes to this rock
Will not bless the priest of Aberbrothock."

'The wind hath blown a gale all day,
At evening it had died away.

11. "Canst hear," said one, "the breakers roar?
For yonder, methinks, should be the shore;
Now where we are I cannot tell,

But I wish we could hear the Inchcape bell!"

12. They hear no sound, the swell is strong;

Though the wind hath fallen, they drift along,
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock—
O heavens! it is the Inchcape Rock!

13. Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,
He cursed himself in his despair;
But the waves rush in on every side,
And the vessel sinks beneath the tide !

[CHAPTER XXVII.]

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

Born 1771-Died 1832.

(853)

HUNTING SONG.

1. Waken, lords and ladies gay,
On the mountain dawns the day,

All the jolly chase is here,

With hawk, and horse, and hunting spear!
Hounds are in their couples yelling,

Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling,

Merrily, merrily, mingle they,

"Waken, lords and ladies gay."