Day after day, day after day

We stuck, nor breath, nor motion 

As idle as painted ship 

Upon a painted ocean

 

Anna and Anna were walking back from the Zetland Inn

After celebrating a close friends birthday

It was a wild February night

With the west south west winds

Blowing at gale force

Fresh from the sea

But strangely it was winter mild

Although both women were quite windswept

 

Did you hear that Anna

Hear what

It sounded like a poem but wind has drowned the words

Then you could not have heard the poem

Who in their right mind would read poetry on a night like this

A madman I would think

There I can hear it again

It seems to be coming from the sentinel

I cannot even see the sentinel as the night is so dark

All our senses are alive but we cannot even see our boots

 

What do you think it was

It might have been a Lady Ghost as they are said to frequent this area

A Lady Ghost

Yes they are the sea spirits of the wives and sweethearts of those lost at sea

Why would they read poetry

To pass the time until their loved ones return from the sea

And if they do not return

Then they remain at their point of leisure forever reading poetry

Did you hear the poem

Clearly as I have no ear for storms

Did you recognise it

Yes it was from The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

Shall we venture towards the sentinel so that might keep the wretched creature company

I am sure that she would welcome out visit

It would be a pointless venture Anna as you cannot see Lady Ghosts

Are they invisible

Not really as beasts can see them but human eyes cannot witness their irregular forms

So you are saying that our dog would be able to see the Lady Ghosts but not you or I

Precisely

But our beasts cannot hear the poetry whereas we can hear every word

We can hear

Our dogs can see

The Lady Ghosts

Even on foul nights such as this

 

Anna and Anna ceased their conversation and entered their coastal cottage with little ceremony as they were glad of relief from the storm

Their dog whined a little as a form of greeting and then went back to sleep

 

Day after day, day after day

We stuck, nor breath, nor motion 

As idle as painted ship 

Upon a painted ocean

 

The Lady Ghost who was sitting on a small beach chair repeated these lines time and time again

She was looking out into the blackness of the sea

Her lover she knew was out there somewhere

And she was waiting for him to return