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about

Celia Laighton was raised in the lighthouse keeper's cottage of White Island Light on the Isles of Shoals. At sixteen, she married her father's business partner Levi Thaxter, later her tutor and a member of a prominent Newton family. After ten years of marriage and three sons, Celia returned to Appledore Island to assume the hostess duties of her father's Appledore Hotel. Her Transcendentalist sensibilities shine through this poem, set to an original tune.

lyrics

Rock, little boat, beneath the quiet sky;
Only the stars behold us where we lie, --
Only the stars and yonder brightening moon.

On the wide sea tonight alone are we;
The sweet, bright summer day dies silently,
Its glowing sunset will have faded soon.

Rock softly, little boat, the while I mark
The far off gliding sails, distinct and dark,
Across the west pass steadily and slow.

But on the eastern waters sad, they change
And vanish, dream-like, gray, and cold, and strange,
And no one knoweth whither they may go.

We care not, we, drifting with wind and tide,
While glad waves darken upon either side,
Save where the moon sends silver sparkles down,

Yonder slender stream of hanging light,
And now white, now crimson, tremulously bright,
Where dark the lighthouse stands, with fiery crown.

Thick falls the dew soundless on sea and shore.
It shines on little boat and idle oar,
Wherever moonbeams touch with tranquil glow.

The waves are full of whispers wild and sweet;
They call to me, -- incessantly they beat
Along the boat from stern to carved prow.

Comes the careering wind, blows back my hair,
All damp with dew, to kiss me unaware
Murmuring, "Thee I love," and passes on.

Sweet sounds on rocky shores the distant rote;
Oh could we float forever, little boat,
Under the blissful sky drifting alone!

credits

from Set to the Music, released July 24, 2021
Celia Laighton Thaxter arr. Lynn Noel

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Crosscurrents Music Boston, Massachusetts

Lynn Noel brings traditional song and heritage arts online to create community. Lynn has a voice of striking clarity and power, equally at home in rhythmic chanteys and flowing ballads.

Lynn is a respected song session leader on both sides of the Atlantic and the producer and host of the Mermaid's Tavern online folk club. She is currently Program Chair of the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA). ... more

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