SEACOAST POETRY

Portsmouth Journal
Saturday, September 1, 1860

On the island of Appledore, one of the Isles of Shoals, there is a Public House, kept by Hon. Thomas B. Laighton. Those who have viewed these Islands, will understand the subject of the following lines:

The Lord of the Isles

The Isles of Shoals, the Isles of Shoals,
Those children of the sea,
I love their sight, I love their air,
I love their billows free.

Lord of the Isles, I love him too,
He taketh care of all,--
His look is quick, and ranges far—
He answers every call.

His will is law, o’er all his realm;
The timid watch his eye;
Both men and brute obey his call,
And rapidly they fly.

No noisy gong awakes the morn,--
The trumpet’s gentle tones
Call sleeping maidens from their dreams,
And harkens all their sons.

Lord of the Isles, he goeth not
To an other land;
No wintry winds can move his soul
To leave his rocky strand.

His children love their ocean home,
Hearts are anchored here,
And when they wander to the world,
They leave it with a tear.

The wife and mother bless his lot,
In quiet there they live;
No storms can fright the happy home,
Nor terrors to it give.

The lord as editor was once
And many lines wrote he,
An in the legislative halls
You his round face could see.

But he left them in his wisdom,
And all their labors too,--
He sought the sea, the glorious sea,
And bid them all adieu.

A farewell to the noble lord,
And all beneath his care.
A blessing on his name and race.—
And all his friendship share.

By Viator

Courtesy of SeacoastNH.com
Research by Richard Winslow III
and transcribed by Maryellen Burke.