Part II
The Sun now rose upon the right:Out of the sea came he,Still hid in mist, and on the leftWent down into the sea.
And the good south wind still blew behind,But no sweet bird did follow,Nor any day for food or playCame to the mariners' hollo!
And I had done a hellish thing,And it would work 'em woe:For all averred, I had killed the birdThat made the breeze to blow.Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,That made the breeze to blow!
Nor, dim nor red, like God's own head,The glorious Sun uprist:Then all averred, I had killed the birdThat brought the fog and mist.'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,That bring the fog and mist.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,The furrow followed free;We were the first that ever burstInto that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,'Twas sad as sad could be;And we did speak only to breakThe silence of the sea!
All in a hot and copper sky,The bloody Sun, at noon,Right up above the mast did stand,No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,We stuck, nor breath nor motion;As idle as a painted shipUpon a painted ocean.
Water, water, every where,And all the boards did shrink;Water, water, every whereNor any drop to drink.
The very deep did rot: O Christ!That ever this should be!Yea, slimy things did crawl with legsUpon the slimy sea.
About, about, in reel and routThe death-fires danced at night;The water, like a witch's oils,Burnt green, and blue and white.
And some in dreams assured were ,Of the Spirit that plagued us so;Nine fathom deep he had followed usFrom the land of mist and snow.
And every tongue, through utter drought,Was withered at the root;We could not speak, no more than ifWe had been choked with soot.
Ah! well a-day! what evil looksHad I from old and young!Instead of the cross, the AlbatrossAbout my neck was hung.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- crawl v. i.
- To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Coleridge, Project Gutenberg ebook #8208; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Part II, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/part-ii.html, id L00297.
Form and metre
Part II is 60 lines in 14 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A right · heA · left · seaA
- 3 -A-A-A thing · woeA · bird · blowA · slay · blowA
- 4 -A-A-A head · upristA · bird · mistA · slay · mistA
- 5 -A-A flew · freeA · burst · seaA
- 6 -A-A down · beA · break · seaA
- 7 -A-A sky · noonA · stand · moonA
- 8 -A-A day · motionA · ship · oceanA
- 9 ABAB whereA · shrinkB · whereA · drinkB
- 10 -A-A christ · beA · legs · seaA
- 11 -A-A rout · nightA · oils · whiteA
- 12 -A-A were · soA · us · snowA
- 14 -A-A looks · youngA · albatross · hungA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Sun now rose upon the right: | 8 | ········ |
| Out of the sea came he, | 6 | ······ |
| Still hid in mist, and on the left | 8 | ········ |
| Went down into the sea. | 6 | ······ |
| And the good south wind still blew behind, | 9 | ········· |
| But no sweet bird did follow, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Nor any day for food or play | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Came to the mariners' hollo! | 8 | ···/˘˘/· |
| And I had done a hellish thing, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And it would work 'em woe: | 6 | ······ |
| For all averred, I had killed the bird | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| That made the breeze to blow. | 6 | ······ |
| Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay, | 8 | ········ |
| That made the breeze to blow! | 6 | ······ |
| Nor, dim nor red, like God's own head, | 8 | ········ |
| The glorious Sun uprist: | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| Then all averred, I had killed the bird | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| That brought the fog and mist. | 6 | ······ |
| 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, | 8 | ········ |
| That bring the fog and mist. | 6 | ······ |
| The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, | 8 | ········ |
| The furrow followed free; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| We were the first that ever burst | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Into that silent sea. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twas sad as sad could be; | 6 | ······ |
| And we did speak only to break | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The silence of the sea! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| All in a hot and copper sky, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The bloody Sun, at noon, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Right up above the mast did stand, | 8 | ········ |
| No bigger than the Moon. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Day after day, day after day, | 8 | ········ |
| We stuck, nor breath nor motion; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| As idle as a painted ship | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Upon a painted ocean. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Water, water, every where, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| And all the boards did shrink; | 6 | ······ |
| Water, water, every where | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Nor any drop to drink. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The very deep did rot: O Christ! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That ever this should be! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon the slimy sea. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| About, about, in reel and rout | 8 | ········ |
| The death-fires danced at night; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The water, like a witch's oils, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Burnt green, and blue and white. | 6 | ······ |
| And some in dreams assured were , | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Of the Spirit that plagued us so; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Nine fathom deep he had followed us | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| From the land of mist and snow. | 7 | ······· |
| And every tongue, through utter drought, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Was withered at the root; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We could not speak, no more than if | 8 | ········ |
| We had been choked with soot. | 6 | ······ |
| Ah! well a-day! what evil looks | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Had I from old and young! | 6 | ······ |
| Instead of the cross, the Albatross | 9 | ˘/····/˘· |
| About my neck was hung. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.