The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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

The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.

And hopes, and fears that kindle hope, An undistinguishable throng, And gentle wishes long subdued, Subdued and cherished long!

‘Twas partly love, and partly fear, And partly ’twas a bashful art, That I might rather feel, than see, The swelling of her heart.