The poem begins with an old grey-bearded sailor, the Mariner, stopping a guest at a wedding ceremony to tell him a story of a sailing voyage he took long ago. The Wedding Guest is at first reluctant to listen, as the ceremony is about to begin, but the mariner's glittering eye captivates him.The mariner's tale begins with his ship departing on its journey. Despite initial good fortune, the ship is driven south by a storm and eventually reaches the icy waters of the Antarctic. An albatross appears and leads the ship out of the ice jam where it is stuck, but even as the albatross is fed and praised by the ship's crew, the mariner shoots the bird: With my cross-bowI shot the Albatross.The crew is angry with the mariner, believing the albatross brought the south wind that led them out of the A