After the mariner is forced to wear the albatross around his neck as the punishment for killing it (albatross can be seen as a metaphor for the human soul, Christian spirit) they pass a ship on which Death and Life-in-Death are playing dice for the sailors lives. All but the Mariner are claimed by Death and the Mariner is claimed by Life-in-Death. He is condemned to a fate worse than death, to living hell. He is destined to be trapped in his personal hell and even those dead seem freer than him. He also is compelled to share his story with others as the sharing it lets him be free, at least for little while.
