Fitz Henry Lane

Gloucester's Harbor Master

By: Charles Giuliano - Sep 04, 2016

Fitz Henry Lane

House on the hill
Commanding view
Gloucester Harbor
Fitz Henry Lane (1804-65)
19th Century Luminist
Foremost marine painter
Walked with crutches
Hobbled down the hill
Boarded a dory
Rowed to schooners
Ports of call
Along Atlantic coast
Grand harbors
Boston and New York
Gentle inlets
Quiet coves in Ipswich
Finest collection
Cape Ann Museum
Mostly serene
Now and then
Storms at sea
Bashing waves
Battened down
Braving the elements
So many native sons
Brawny fishermen
Lost on the
Grand Banks
Down in the deep
Too many names
Inscribed on
Bronze tablets
Looking toward
Eastern Point
Schooners that
Homer later painted
With splendid gusto
More dramatic than
Lane’s modest introspection
Oddly understated
Visiting  home on the hill
Neighbors now gone
Urban removal
Lane’s solid structure
All that’s remains
Taken for granite
Stone’s throw
From sea he loved