romantic period 1st page

23. This literary ballad is a harrowing exploration of the torrments that guilt can inflict on the human soul. The principal characters ar ethe ancient Mariner and the wedding Guest to whom
the Mariner tells his tale. The mariner beings by describing how his square-masted ship set sail under a good wind and traveled toward the South pole. on the way, he commited the senseless crime of killing an albatross that the sailors believed was a good omen. The Mariner describes the punishments that rained down on him, including the death of his hsipmates, the haunting of the ship by supernatural forces, and his having too wander the earth retelling his tale to passing strangers for the rest of his life.