This famous line comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” which tells the story of a sailor who finds himself stranded at sea with no drinkable water. The sailor is surrounded by an endless expanse of saltwater but cannot drink it because it is salty and will only make him more dehydrated. The situation becomes dire as the sailor becomes weaker and weaker, and his companions die one by one. Eventually, the sailor realizes that he has committed a great sin by killing an albatross, and he is punished by the supernatural forces of the sea. Despite his guilt and suffering, the sailor is eventually redeemed and allowed to return home, where he spends the rest of his life telling his tale as a warning to others.