The Rime of the Ancient Mariner of mist and snow"; the south wind that had initially led them from the land of ice now sends the ship into uncharted waters near the equator, where it is becalmed. The sailors change their minds again and blame the mariner for the torment of their thirst. In anger, the crew forces the mariner to wear the dead albatross about his neck, perhaps to illustrate the burden he must suffer from killing it, or perhaps as a sign of regret: Eventually, the ship encounters a ghostly hulk. On board are Death (a skeleton) and the "Night-mare Life-in-Death", a deathly-pale woman,
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket believing the novel was an autobiographical narrative by Pym. In addition to historical sources, Poe was influenced by other writers. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a general influence, and scenes of Pym and Dirk Peters in a cave echo scenes in Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", which many reviewers noted at the time, including London publications such as the "Court Gazette" and the "Torch". The ship of corpses recalls the legend of the "Flying Dutchman", a ship which is cursed and unable to return home. Poe also incorporated the theories of Reynolds and John Cleves