IV 



AT THE ISLES OF SHOALS 



The Island and the Garden which Celia 

 Thaxter Loved 



The poppies that grow in Celia Thaxter's garden 

 nod bright heads in welcome to all who come. It 

 is as if the sunny presence of their mistress dwelt 

 always in the spot, finding voice in these blooms 

 which are so delicate, yet so regnant in spirit. 

 To these all the other flowers which speak of the 

 homely virtues, marigolds and red geraniums, 

 coreopsis and pinks and love-in-a-mist, seem sub- 

 ordinate at first approach, though they occupy 

 the bulk of the garden, which seems to epitomize 

 the life of the mistress who tended it so long. 

 There is no square of it without its rich aroma 

 of love and womanliness, yet it is the vivid per- 

 sonality of the poppies, flowers for dreams, which 

 touches first the comer from the outside world. 



Round about the garden lies Appledore, the 

 largest of the Isles of Shoals, rocked gently on 



