Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" reflects the belief in the supernatural as a romantic ideal.
It tells the fantastic adventure of a sailor during a long trip in the sea. This begins with the sailor approaching a man who goes to a marriage, asking him to listen to his story.
The story begins with a ship in a quiet trip, but then followed by strong storms. The ship is taken to the south, arriving near the coasts of Antarctica. That's when the crew sees an albatross, good luck omen. However, for no reason, the sailor shoots the bird with his crossbow. The crew is disturbed, blaming the sailor for a future disaster. However, after the weather improves and the fog disappears, the crew changes their mind, congratulating the sailor for his action.
Sailing adrift and suffering from a shortage of water, the crew returns to deposit their anger on the sailor, punishing him to hang the bird as a sign of guilt on his neck. With the passage of time, the ship has a ghostly encounter with death and death-in-life. They play with the dice the life of the crew, being the death-in-life who wins the sailor's soul.
The punishment of seeing the crew perish, causes the sailor to change his attitude and bless the creatures of the sea he meets. It is there where the bird that hung from its neck falls, freeing it from the curse. After this release, the sailor is rescued from the stranded boat where he was and then be forgiven by a hermit, telling him as a penance to tell his story wherever he goes.
