"But soon I heard the dash of oars, 500
I heard the Pilot's cheer;
My head was turned perforce, away,
And I saw a boat appear.
"The Pilot and the Pilot's boy,
I heard them coming fast: 505
Dear Lord in heaven! it was a joy
The dead men could not blast.
"I saw a third--I heard his voice:
It is the Hermit good!
He singeth loud his godly hymns 510
That he makes in the wood.
He'll shrieve[58] my soul, he'll wash away
The Albatross's blood."
PART VII
"This Hermit good lives in that wood
Which slopes down to the sea. 515
How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
He loves to talk with marineres
That come from a far countree.
"He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve--
He hath a cushion plump: 520
It is the moss that wholly hides
The rotted old oak-stump.
"The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,
'Why, this is strange, I trow![59]
Where are those lights so many and fair, 525
That signal made but now?'
"'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said--
'And they answered not our cheer.
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