One of the most evocative, famous, and mysterious poems in the English language is undoubtedly Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This seaman's story - full of symbols, strange occurrences, moral implications, and moral ambiguity - has fascinated scholars and lovers of verse. This edition is not only the most comprehensive and informative available but also the most elegant ever to appear.<BR>Martin Gardner, well known for his Annotated Alice, has written an introduction, a brief biography of Coleridge, copious explanatory notes to the text that are designed to deepen the reader's understanding of the ballad, and a chapter summing up the major critical attitudes toward the poem in which he also discusses possible higher levels of meaning. He closes with questions concerning the poem's much-debated moral. Included also is the first published version of the Rime - significantly different from the final version - and a selected bibliography.