A nice edition that makes a fascinating read for yourself, a great gift, or the perfect text for the classroom. Be sure to use the LookInside feature. This book contains: The unabridged 1834 text. - A large, easy-to-read font with lots of room on the page for notes. - 41 original illustrations by Gustave Doré. The only way to read this spell-binding poem is accompanied by his illustrations. - The original margin annotations from the author. - Complete line numbering to facilitate discussion and learning. - A cover from an 1884 edition. - Edgar Allan Poe's A Descent into the Maelstrom The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798. This edition uses the text from the 1834 edition which also includes numerous marginal notations (glosses). It recounts the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on his way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The Wedding-Guest’s reaction turns from bemusement to impatience to fear to fascination as the mariner's story progresses. Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as personification and repetition to create a sense of danger, the supernatural, or serenity. The poem may have been inspired by James Cook's second voyage of exploration (1772–1775) where he crossed into the Antarctic Circle to determine whether the fabled great southern continent Terra Australis existed.