“‘Strange, by my faith!’ the Hermit said—­
  ’And they answered not our cheer. 
  The planks look warped! and see those sails,
  How thin they are and sere! 530
  I never saw aught like to them,
  Unless perchance it were

  “’Brown skeletons of leaves that lag
  My forest-brook along;
  When the ivy-tod[60] is heavy with snow, 535
  And the owlet whoops to the wolf below,
  That eats the she-wolf’s young.’

  “’Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look—­
  (The Pilot made reply)
  I am afeared,’[61]—­’Push on, push on!’ 540
  Said the Hermit cheerily.

  “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. 545

  “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.

  “Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound, 550
  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. 555

  “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.

  “I moved my lips —­the Pilot shrieked 560
  And fell down in a fit;
  The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
  And prayed where he did sit.

  “I took the oars:  the Pilot’s boy,
  Who now doth crazy go, 565
  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.’

  “And now, all in my own countree, 570
  I stood on the firm land! 
  The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
  And scarcely he could stand.

  “‘O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!’
  The Hermit crossed his brow.[62] 575
  ‘Say quick,’ quoth he, ’I bid thee say—­
  What manner of man art thou?’

  “Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
  With a woeful agony,
  Which forced me to begin my tale; 580
  And then it left me free.

  “Since then, at an uncertain hour,
  That agony returns: 
  And till my ghastly tale is told,
  This heart within me burns. 585

  “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. 590

  “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,[63] 595
  Which biddeth me to prayer.