The Rime of the Ancient Mariner that the poem may have been inspired by the voyage of Thomas James into the Arctic. According to William Wordsworth, the poem was inspired while Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Wordsworth's sister Dorothy were on a walking tour through the Quantock Hills in Somerset. The discussion had turned to a book that Wordsworth was reading, "A Voyage Round The World by Way of the Great South Sea" (1726) by Captain George Shelvocke. In the book, a melancholy sailor, Simon Hatley, shoots a black albatross: As they discussed Shelvocke's book, Wordsworth proffers the following developmental critique to Coleridge, which importantly contains a reference
Christabel (poem) becomes enchanted with Geraldine, ordering a grand procession to announce her rescue. The unfinished poem ends here. It is unclear when Coleridge began writing the poem which would become "Christabel". Presumably, he prepared it beginning in 1797. During this time, he had been working on several poems for "Lyrical Ballads", a book on which he collaborated with William Wordsworth. "Christabel" was not complete in time for the book's 1798 publication, though it did include "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". The first part of the poem was likely completed that year, however. He continued to work on Part II of