Reading No.16 - Alan Cumming

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Big Read

Discover more: https://www.ancientmarinerbigread.com/reading/16

Reader
Alan Cumming
Actor
Recorded in New York City

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I looked upon the rotting sea,
And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.

I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
But or ever a prayer had gusht,
A wicked whisper came, and made
My heart as dry as dust.

I closed my lids, and kept them close,
And the balls like pulses beat;
For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
Lay dead like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.

The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
Nor rot nor reek did they:
The look with which they looked on me
Had never passed away.

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Copyright: The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth. The Ancient Mariner Big Read is not for profit and cannot be sold, either as a whole or in part, without permission from The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth, UK.