Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Harris wrote this adaptation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem for the end of Powerslave. At 13 minutes and 45 seconds it was the band's longest song for more than 30 years, until Empire of the Clouds in 2015. It leans on Coleridge's own gloss to the poem and quotes two passages directly, including the famous line about water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Harris recalled that it was written in a relatively short time under pressure, and said that if kids went out and read Coleridge because of a song, that was really something.

A Guardian writer, Matt Mills, wrote in 2026 that he studied the song as if sitting a test, and that it has no chorus. He could still recite it word for word, and the poem was on his college curriculum not long after. Murray, Dickinson and Harris all named it as their favourite to play live on the 2008 to 2009 tour. Reviewing the 2025 anniversary tour in Birmingham, the Guardian's Michael Hann said it lasts nearly as long as a cross-channel ferry.