A Tower of refuge to the else forlorn. 1835.
A Tower of refuge built for the forlorn. C.
[850] The Tower of Refuge, an ornament to Douglas Bay, was erected chiefly through the humanity and zeal of Sir William Hillary; and he also was the founder of the lifeboat establishment, at that place; by which, under his superintendence, and often by his exertions at the imminent hazard of his own life, many seamen and passengers have been saved.—W. W. 1835.
In Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal of a visit to the Isle of Man in 1826, the following occurs:—"Monday, 3rd July.—Sir William Hillary saved a boy's life to-day in harbour. He raised a regiment for government, and chose his own reward, viz., a Baronetcy! and now lives here on £300 per annum, etc. etc."—Ed.
XVI
BY THE SEA-SHORE, ISLE OF MAN
Why stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine,
With wonder smit by its transparency,
And all-enraptured with its purity?—
Because the unstained, the clear, the crystalline,
Have ever in them something of benign; 5
Whether in gem, in water, or in sky,
A sleeping infant's brow, or wakeful eye
Of a young maiden, only not divine.
Scarcely the hand forbears to dip its palm
For beverage drawn as from a mountain-well. 10
Temptation centres in the liquid Calm;
Our daily raiment seems no obstacle
To instantaneous plunging in, deep Sea!
And revelling[851] in long embrace with thee.[852]
FOOTNOTES:
[851] 1835.
And wantoning ...
MS.