Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/690

 But not by the souls of the men, nor by demons of earth or middle air, but by a blessed troop of angelic spirits, sent down by the invocation of the guardian saint

��SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

The body of my brother's son Stood by me, knee to knee: The body and I pulPd at one rope, But he said naught to me.'

'I fear thee, ancient Mariner'' 'Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest 'Twas not those souls that fled in pain, Which to their corses came again, But a troop of spirits b^est:

For when it dawn'd they dropp'd their an And cluster'd round the mast, Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mout And from their bodies pass'd.

Around, around, flew each sweet sound, Then darted to the Sun; Slowly the sounds came back again, Now mix'd, now one by one.

Sometimes a-dropping from the sky I heard the skylark sing, Sometimes all little birds that are, How they seem'd to fill the sea and air With their sweet jargoning!

And now 'twas like all instruments, Now like a lonely flute; And now it is an angel's song, That makes the Heavens be mute.

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