Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eye as he stops one of three
Mesmerises one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares
of the Sea
And the music plays on, as the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and
the Mariner tells his tale.
Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobodyīs been
Through the snow fog flies on the albatross
Hailed in Godīs name,
hoping good luck it brings.
And the ship sails on, back to the North
Through the fog and ice and
the albatross follows on
The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what heīs done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime.
Sailing on and on and North across the sea
Sailing on and on and North ītill all is calm
The albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible curse a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the Mariner
About his neck, the dead bird is hung.
And the curse goes on and on at sea
And the curse goes on and on for them and me.
"Day after day, day after day,
we stuck nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water everywhere and
all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink."
[SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1798-1834)]
There, calls the mariner
there comes a ship over the line
But how can she sail with no wind
in her sails and no tide.
See... onward she comes
Onwards she nears, out of the sun
See... she has no crew
She has no life, wait but thereīs two
Death and she Life in Death,
they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the Mariner and he belongs to her now.
Then ... crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She... She, Life in Death.
She lets him live, her chosen one.
[NARRATIVE]
"One after one by the star dogged moon,
too quick for groan or sigh
Each turned 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."
[SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1798-1834)]
The curse it lives on in their eyes
The Mariner he wished heīd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he.
And by the light of moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
Godīs creatures all of them too.
Then the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the Sea
Then down in falls comes the rain.
Hear the groans od the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak
and theyīre lifeless in their eyes
And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on.
Now the curse is finally lifted
And the Mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
Form their own light and
the Marinerīs left alone
And then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The Pilotīs boat, his son and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto Him.
And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrieves the mariner of his sins
The Marinerīs bound to tell of his story
To tell his tale wherever he goes
To teach Godīs word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made.
And the wedding guestīs a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on.