The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem written in 1797–98. A weathered sailor stops a wedding guest to share his haunting tale of a sea voyage gone terribly wrong. After shooting an albatross, the mariner faces supernatural punishment and watches his crew perish. He must wander the earth forever, compelled to retell his story as penance. The poem explores guilt, redemption, and the consequences of violating nature through vivid narrative and supernatural imagery.