Ancient mariners drank rain water

PB,

I thought this might be intesting to read to get a glimpse of what they did in the olden days:


The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(first version 1798)


By grace of the holy Mother, the ancient Mariner is refreshed with rain.

The silly buckets on the deck,
That had so long remained,
I dreamt that they were filled with dew ;
And when I awoke, it rained.
My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank ;
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,
And still my body drank.

I moved, and could not feel my limbs :
I was so light--almost
I thought that I had died in sleep,
And was a blesséd ghost.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Rime_Ancient_Mari...