Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner and Gustave Doré: A Pictorial Guide

In 1876, the French illustrator Gustave Doré produced thirty-eight engravings for an edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner — images so closely tied to the poem in the popular imagination that many readers picture Doré's skeletal ship and star-dogg'd Moon before they picture Coleridge's actual words.

This pictorial guide sets the complete text of the poem alongside Doré's engravings, each keyed to the exact passage it illustrates. Hover over an underlined phrase (tap, on phone or tablet) to see the matching engraving in a pop-up; click the phrase or the image itself to view it full-size. The poem is presented in its seven parts, with the 1817 marginal gloss running alongside the verse throughout.