A sailor dooms his ship's crew by murdering an albatross and is lost at sea, alone with the burden of his guilt, until a meeting with divine messengers brings him the opportunity to do penance. Samuel Taylor Coleridge's (1772-1834) haunting parable of sin and absolution, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is widely recognized as one of the greatest narrative poems in the English language and was a defining achievement in the establishment of the Romantic Movement.

Coleridge's text is presented here alongside the classic illustrations of Gustave Dore (1832-1883), the great French engraver famous for his illustrations of Dante's Inferno, Milton's Paradise Lost, and the Bible. His imaginative and detailed illustrations are a beautiful and evocative visual compliment to this unique masterpiece of English literature.