The Tale of the Wedding Guest.

Kay, this was an assignment I did last year. Got me 20++/20 and the teacher said he'd put it in the yearbook. o_o

The assignment was to write a sequel to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. And I wrote a ballad. Daaayyyum right.


The Wedding-Guest who heard the tale,
Of the Ancient Mariner.
He grew to be a wiser man,
From the tale which he did hear.

He wished to see the many seas,
Of which the Mariner spoke.
He chartered up a fresh new ship,
And set off on the Loke.

The Wedding-Guest, he beat his breast,
Standing on the crow's nest.
The Wedding-Guest, he beat his breast,
This was his greatest test.

The ship, the Loke, left from the shore,
The crew cheered merrily.
As the ship drew from the harbour more,
The helmsman turned 'round easily.

The sailors facing the harbour did,
A gesture of honour.
They gestured to that bright eyed man,
The Ancient Mariner.

The crew were strong and did their job well,
They sped fast 'cross the sea.
They reached the West, where they took a rest,
Before leaving for Canary.

They speedeth down the long, long coast,
And reached the ice land, cold.
Icebergs were floating, rocking by,
As green as emerald.

The Wedding-Guest and crew flew swift,
The Forties blew them fast.
They reached the sea the Mariner had breached,
In that one strong wind-blast.

The wind was strong, the wind was wild,
It battered the tough new Loke.
They crossed the line in a fast new time,
Just as the helmsman spoke.

"How art thou, good sir, John Dee?
Is the sea to much for thee?"
"Nay, good sir, I feel not bad,
The wind, it calmeth me!"

The sun quick fell up on the right,
For he had spoke too soon.
The wind blew hard, towards the east,
And the sky went black, at noon!

A great, white light did split the sky,
A thunder crack went crash!
The sea did spin so ever fast,
The boat the water did smash.

Out of the water came a beast,
A mighty snake it be.
It hath ten eyes, and five large heads,
An' it roareth like the sea.

The green and black and blue serpent,
It smashed the lovely Loke.
The pieces of the brand new boat,
Smashed apart, and broke.

The sailors, knowing how to swim,
They did survive the blow.
But the Wedding-Guest, he nearly drowned,
But clung on to the prow.

With swishing tail, and diamond mail,
The serpent roareth loud,
It spun and spun, it spun 'round fast,
And lightning split a cloud.

It spun and spun, it spun 'round fast,
It maketh a whirl-pool.
The water in the sea did spin,
And so did the Loke's crew.

Around, around, the world did spin,
For the poor Wedding-Guest,
Around, around, the serpent gleamed,
The bright plates on its chest.

A whizz! A snap! A crossbow's bolt!
The Wedding-Guest turned 'round.
A whizz! A snap! Another ship
Rode steadily, like on ground.

The ship's captain shot another bolt,
At the raging snake.
The bolt fell harmlessly from its neck,
As the water span in its wake.

The captain of the second ship,
He shot the crossbow 'gain!
A whiz! A snap! It nailed its chin,
As the snake roared out in pain.

The great serpent collapsed in pain,
It writhed in agony,
It slowly sank into the sea,
Its scales shone bright like ebony.

The captain of the second ship,
He shouted out in glee.
He roared, "I've killed it, killed it dead,
The serpent of the sea!"

The sailors on the other ship,
Threw out an anchor-rope.
The Wedding-Guest and crew did board,
The fast clipper, the Trope.

The captain, he'd searched long and hard,
To slay the giant drake.
His first crew perished in its wrath,
He'd wished to kill the snake.

The clipper ship sailed long and hard,
Toward the setting sun.
They reached the East, where they had a feast,
And set off to London.

The ship passed through the many Easts,
And headed back to home.
The sailors cheered as the fast ship neared,
The good city of Rome,

The wind did blow in a typhoon storm,
It put them to the test,
The ship swung past the British Isles,
And headed to the West.

The ice and cold went to the bones,
Of the Wedding-Guest,
The chill and cold of the Newfoundland,
Made him beat his breast.

As the Helmsman steered through the cold,
And ice of Baffin Bay,
An Albatross came from above,
Towards the ship, in day.

The sun shone out, the captain's shout,
"Turn the boat around!"
The fog and mist did clear quite out,
As the wind ran them aground.

The boat, the Trope, was stuck aground,
In an icy land unknown,
The ships crew heaved, the sandbar cleaved,
And the ship again was blown,

The captain aimed his large crossbow,
Ready to shoot the bird,
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
And the captain heard his word,

"Good Captain, you must not shoot it!
For it brings the good wind-blast!
If it is shot down, God's wrath will abound
And we may die, avast!

The captain heard the words quite clear,
And his heart was once just moved,
The ship was moving, quite fast now,
They saw beasts which were hoofed.

They crossed the Ocean once again,
As the ice did clear away,
The Albatross returned to home,
As the sun did shine a ray.

The weather was fine, the seas benign,
As they sailed into the bay.
The Frenchmen stocked them up with food,
As they left from the Biscay.

The trip from there was filled with cheer,
The voyage was over,
The Wedding-Guest, he beat his breast,
He liketh to be rover.

The voyage was one to never forget,
And that he knew of well,
The lessons he had learnt from it,
Were ones to never quell.

He walked into his town that day,
A very much changed man.
He had both seen and felt the sea,
As much as one man can.

That deserves to be in the yearbook! I've never read "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" but your story was wonderful nonetheless. I'm really digging your Rhyme Scheme.

Good job, Henry.

I like it. It's like knowing things you don't, only better!