According to 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, that described a privateering voyage in 1719 during which a melancholy sailor, Simon Hatley, shot a black albatross. thumb|320px|Commemorative statue at Watchet, Somerset: the albatross hangs on a rope looped around the ancient mariner's neck.
According to 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 that described a privateering voyage in 1719 during which a melancholy sailor Simon Hatley shot a black albatross thumb|320px|Commemorative statue at Watchet Somerset the albatross hangs on a rope looped around the ancient mariner's neck