The Rime of the Ancient Mariner autobiographical portrait of Coleridge himself, comparing the mariner's loneliness with Coleridge's own feelings of loneliness expressed in his letters and journals. In addition to being referred to in several other notable works, due to the popularity of the poem the phrase "albatross around one's neck" has become an English language idiom referring to "a heavy burden of guilt that becomes an obstacle to success". Monty Python's "Albatross Sketch" in which an irascible movie-theatre refreshment vendor tries to sell a single albatross from a tray around his neck, is a parody of Coleridge's description of the Mariner. The phrase "Water, water,
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner every where, | Nor any drop to drink" has appeared widely in popular culture, but usually given in a more natural modern phrasing as "Water, water, everywhere | "But not a drop to drink""; some such appearances have, in turn, played on the frequency with which these lines are misquoted. The poem is referenced in the script of the 1939 film "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". The Iron Maiden song "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" from their fifth studio album "Powerslave" (1984) was inspired by and based on the poem, and quotes the poem in its lyrics. A 1971 episode