[20.] That silent sea. The vessel had reached the equator.
[21.] Death-fires. There is a superstition that death is sometimes
foreshadowed by death-fires or fetch-lights. In this instance the
fires presaged the death of the sailors.
[22.] The spirit that plagued us so. This was "the lonesome spirit
from the south pole," who was seeking revenge for the death of the
albatross.
[23.] I wist, I knew.
[24.] Agape, with mouths open as though surprised.
[25.] Gramercy (from the French _grand-merci_), an exclamation formerly
used to denote thankfulness with surprise.
[26.] To work us weal, to do us good.
[27.] Straight, straightway, immediately.
[28.] The Sun was flecked with bars. The frame of the skeleton ship
showed clearly against the setting sun as she passed before it.
[29.] Heaven's Mother, the Virgin Mary.
[30.] Gossameres, gossamers, cobwebs.
[31.] The Nightmare Life-in-Death. In this strange being the poet
personifies the state of a person who lives, as it were, in the shadow
of death. The condition called "nightmare" was formerly believed to be
caused by the witch Nightmare, who oppressed people during sleep.
[32.] At one stride comes the dark.
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