Dear Leslie —
I am enclosing the first lines of “The Ancient Mariner,” which I had to memorize in 8th grade at The Brooklyn Ethical Culture School. Actually, I still have friends from that time and when we get together, at some point we begin to recite “The Ancient Mariner,” which is odd for girls from Brooklyn! He will always be dear and close to my heart.
Wendy Wasserstein
FROM “THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER”
Part I
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
“By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now whereof stopp’st thou me?
The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
May’st hear the merry din.”
He holds him with his skinny hand,
“There was a ship,” quoth he.
“Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!”
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.
He holds him with his glittering eye —
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years’ child:
The Mariner hath his will.
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge