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Discover the beauty and symbolism of lighthouses through a collection of poetries about lighthouse in this article.
These towering structures, with their distinctive shapes and flashing lights, have captured the imagination of poets and writers throughout the ages.
From the haunting words of Edgar Allan Poe to the vivid imagery of Mary Oliver, these lighthouse poems offer a unique perspective on these iconic coastal structures.
Whether you’re a lover of poetry or simply drawn to the allure of the sea, these lighthouse poems are sure to inspire and enchant.
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Famous Lighthouse Poems
Here, we explore some of the most famous poems about lighthouse, each offering a unique perspective on the beauty and symbolism of these coastal sentinels.
1. On The Lighthouse at Antibes
by Mathilde Blind
A stormy light of sunset glows and glares
Between two banks of cloud, and o’er the brine
Thy fair lamp on the sky’s carnation line
Alone on the lone promontory flares:
Friend of the Fisher who at nightfall fares
Where lurk false reefs masked by the hyaline
Of dimpling waves, within whose smile divine
Death lies in wait behind Circean snares.
The evening knows thee ere the evening star;
Or sees thy flame sole Regent of the bight,
When storm, hoarse rumoured by the hills afar,
Makes mariners steer landward by thy light,
Which shows through shock of hostile nature’s war
How man keeps watch o’er man through deadliest night.
2. Shanid Castle
by Gerald Griffin
On Shannon side the day is closing fair,
The kern sits musing by his shieling low,
And marks, beyond the lonely hills of Clare,
Blue, rimmed with gold, the clouds of sunset glow.
Hush in that sun the wide-spread waters flow,
Returning warm the day’s departing smile;
Along the sunny highland pacing slow
The keyriaght lingers with his herd the while,
And bells are tolling faint from far Saint Sinon’s isle.
O loved shore! with softest memories twined,
Sweet fall the summer on thy margin fair!
And peace come whispering, like a morning wind,
Dear thoughts of love to every bosom there!
The horrid wreck and driving storm forbear
Thy smiling strand, nor oft the accents swell
Along thy hills of grief or heart-wrung care;
But heaven look down upon each lowly dell,
And bless thee for the joys I yet remember well!
3. Spring is Still Magic With You
by Panagiota Romios
Let’s just sit and touch fingertips!
Warm and ever so lightly, please.
As we face each other on our knees.
Come closer…voyage to me now!
You know you set me all aglow,
With your always lighthouse eyes
And unfailingly, glimmering obsession.
Yes, a plethora of decades have flown!
But, you, my treasure on your knees,
Lifts us up entwined in an enchanted
rhapsody!
Higher than any great, ambrosial tree.
To Arcadia, your ancestral land.
Where peace, the stars and God,
Approves of our everlasting kiss!
4. The Lighthouse
In seas far north, day after day
We leaned upon the rail, engrossed
In frolic fin and jewel spray
And crystal headlands of the coast.
Those beauties held so long in gaze
Have melted from my mind like snow,
But still I see through rifted haze
The wizard tower and portico
That flashed one instant, white and whist,
A grace too exquisite to keep,
A picture springing from the mist
As a dream comes shining out of sleep.
I do not know what name he wrote,
Our captain, in his good ship’s log,
For that sea-wraith, —how men denote
Our fleeting phantom of the fog;
But yet across the world I thrill
With rapture of that ivory gleam,
That sudden shaft of glory, till
It wears the wonder of a dream.
5. Lovers Moon
by Edward Jones
When the moons soft lips kiss the sunset
Veils of darkness close there arms around us
And light bleeds through a pin pricked sky
From distant worlds we can only imagine
And the suns once warm and yellow rays
Are now white and cold on lunar reflections
A dead world, that only shines in darkness
A Jewel on black velvet, a pearl on the sea
A lighthouse to eyes that sail in the night
And as they say with a moth to a flame
So to can you say the moon is to lovers
6. The Lighthouse Keeper
by Helen Emma Maring
In the lonely twilight hour,
Looking forth from his old tower,
When the sunset glow has faded in the west,
Then he sees the distant things
Steeped in purple of the kings,
While the breezes come to chill at night’s behest.
Then the color from the air
Sinks to–God but knows just where,
And the interval of deepened twilight grows;
But the gleaming streaks of light
From his tower of the night
Send their word to every ship that comes or goes.
7. Rainbow
by A.O. Taner
imagine the rainbow being
the dark tunnel
you’ve been stuck in for years
the lighthouse on the horizon,
the beam
that gets brighter as it nears
get soaked in the rain,
feel the sun in your heart,
let go of all your fears.
8. A Family Affair
by C Victor Buhagiar
Angry and confused, I climbed the stairs.
My family was dear to me
I could not help shedding tears.
Could the lighthouse provide me with a key?
Outside the tempest roared, stormy seas so deep.
Yet the lighthouse was a solace to me.
My daughter in her room asleep.
Why did my wife call her a black sheep?
A solution my wife had to find.
One can’t keep her daughter confined.
They need to bond and be aligned.
Problems with family affairs.
One of course could only plea.
All she had to do was open the door and peep
Resolve to speak quietly and kind.
The storm abated, so I returned to my family
With a hope that mother and child will find sanity.
Inspirational Lighthouse Poems
In this collection of inspirational poems about lighthouse, we explore the enduring appeal of these coastal structures and the hope they represent in times of darkness.
1. Fog
by Royal Ninja
My spirit is strong, my heart is weak.
The only break I’d get is falling off a ladder.
I smile to ease your heart,
deep down I am without cause.
You are at times my lighthouse,
but often leaving me to drift into the fog.
2. Lighthouse
by Anonymous
If you’ve wished for a Lighthouse,
Don’t let yourself deviate.
Go all the way…
Satans who’re hiding in the dark,
giving a dream of high-end,
Promising to give whole ocean,
Treat ’em as none.
Set a goal of owning it(lighthouse),
Just reach there and
Light the Edges.
Lighthouse Poems for Love
These lighthouse love poems, will explore the romantic and emotional connections that people have with these iconic coastal structures, offering a unique perspective on the power of love and the sea.
1. Sailing for Love
by Winged Warrior
My love can part the oceans,
But it hasn’t reached your shores…
Sailing in the breeze with emotions,
As my heart rudders and explores.
Within the mist of heartaches,
The thunder passes through…
Shattering sorrows of earthquakes,
Exposing the love I have for you.
The deep sea swallows my soul,
I’m drowning in ambient aquatic…
Resurfacing amidst the Devil’s Hole,
A delusional drift by evil’s erotic.
Sails are down the anchor thrown,
A lighthouse dims of love unknown.
2. Mother
by Sandra Hudson
Mother, you’re the lighthouse
That illuminates my path
Mother, You’re the advisor,
and consoler of my wrath
Mother, you’re the toothpaste,
that keeps my language clean
Mother, you’re the glasses
that keep my vision keen
Mother, you’re the walking cane
that guides me along the way
Mother, you’re the crimson rose
I stop to smell each day
Mother, you’re the safety pin
when things won’t come together
Mother, you’re my rainbow
right after stormy weather
I thank God for all you do
and what you mean to me
I love you Mom, I always will
For all eternity
3. Lighthouse on The Shore
by Wren Rushing
There is a lady all dressed in light,
who stands above the jagged shore at night.
To guide the sailing ships to safer seas
and beg the wicked storms for calmer breeze.
She ever shines her light across the bay,
in hopeful search for love that sailed away.
He left the land with plans to bring back gold,
to ask her hand to wed, the story’s told.
When his ship met with tempest gales,
the waves ripped the hull, wind stripped the sails.
The lady waits at night for him on shore,
as he still lays with gold on ocean floor.
Sometimes you see her lonely light afar,
it shines in the sky like a distant star.
4. A Walk on The Sand
by John Patrick Robbins
We knew love together hand in hand.
Memories are still living.
With are walks upon the sand.
Seashells in an old wooden box.
The oceans spray.
A vanishing form down by the old
docks.
A bottle without a message
comes in with the tide.
Try as I must this pain
I cannot hide.
That old lighthouse stands as
strong as should I.
The tide changes yet never does die.
5. Love Returned
by Harry Horsman
you’ll never be lost
just follow the glow you gave…
I am your lighthouse.
6. A Lighthouse
by Randall Smith
I’ve gardened and read
I wrote poetry in my head
I picked up all the clippings
And everything red.
Time now to nap
And dream dreams far away
Of my true love
My one love
And a light house….
7. Forever
by Birgitta Le Roux
Forever,
It seems to me,
Since you lay right here.
Forever,
I thought we’d be,
Till you disappeared.
A lighthouse sunk to the sea,
In the dark of the night.
With no light to guide me to you,
Ill drift here,
Till I can set sail again,
or forever fall at the edge of your reef.
Lighthouse Poems for Funeral
These poems offer a poignant tribute to the departed and a reminder of the enduring strength of the human spirit.
1. Georgica Pond
by Johnnyswim
One day when I’m gone
Scatter my ashes on Georgica Pond
Litter my memory down Lily Pond Lane
And that’s where I’ll stay
Oh come visit me often
Just whisper my name
And I’ll come alive on the dunes and the waves
One day when I’m free
Take a ferry ride over and be close to me
Build a house on the rock where the bay meets the sea
Where the dreams of my mother are buried like seeds
And I’ll be your lighthouse, you’ll be one for me
Cause time is the worst kind of friend
Always there till you need it, then gone in the end
Oh but love is stronger than it, love is stronger than it
So if you’re ever like me
Daydreaming how different this life would be
If the ones you loved most hadn’t taken their leave
And wishing your babies could know your daddy and me
Know that I’m still your lighthouse, yes I’m still your lighthouse
And you’ll be one for me
2. The Lighthouse
by Anonymous
Keeping watch across the bay,
The lighthouse tower stands.
It shines so bright so other boats,
Will know where there is land.
The light must never go out,
It shines for all to see.
It’s a welcoming beacon to the ships
That are passing on the sea.
Now, I’m the lighthouse keeper,
And it’s your light that I tend.
I make sure your light shines bright
From now to the very end.
3. As Steadfast as A Lighthouse
by Denis Martindale
It was indeed a long time ago
Determined men chose to break their backs
To build that yonder lighthouse
To provide safety in the storms
And to lead the way home to port
To safe harbour once again
To help mariners home to their loved ones
To the little ones still praying
To the warm fires still burning
To the cooked meals prepared in faith
To the comfort of their sofas and chairs
To the removal of cold clothes
To the warmth of waiting beds
To the dreams instead of nightmares
To life instead of death…
So do not look at that lighthouse
And merely see a lighthouse
Nor touch its old cemented stones
And merely touch cold stones
Nor gaze up towards the beacon of light
And merely see that bold bright light
For you are looking at the difference
Between mortal success and failure
Between joyful smiles and solemn stares
Between prayers answered and those dismissed
And even more…
For if those mariners return not to their wives
Perhaps no more children will be born
Perhaps no more wages to support those loved ones
Perhaps the cost of a funeral here and there
To destroy all the money saved over the years
So I plead with you a century after being built
Give honour to those who kept their vigil
And manned the lighthouse to help Mankind
And sacrificed their waking hours for others
Others not known by name yet still cherished
Cherished all the same throughout the years…
Beyond this sun, this moon and stars
Our God looks down below
All-knowing and all-seeing evermore
Yet He does not build the lighthouse
Merely lets others create its stance
Amid the golden sunlight as by day
And the silver moonlight as by night
Perchance to prevent the unthinkable
The horrors of the storms unfolding
The screams of fearful men at sea
The cargo still at risk below
Perhaps the Captain going down with his ship
As his last act of duty upon this Earth…
While men endure the storms at sea
The lighthouse fails them not
Nor does it move itself to cower
Nor pretend it cannot see the sea
Nor can it run to them with mighty hand
To lift them from their plight
It merely offers light and nothing more
Yet that is the light they need
When the sun and moon and stars
Have no more to show the way
And if not for the lighthouse
Would those men have travelled so?
To risk their all for wages week-by-week
Or fish the sea for food for others to eat?
The lighthouse grants them courage
To endure all things and persevere
All things savage, wild, untamed and so severe
So do not merely see a lighthouse
For it is so much more…
Short Lighthouse Poems
Sometimes, the simplest words can carry the most profound meaning. In this collection of short poems about lighthouse, we explore the beauty and symbolism of these coastal structures in a few carefully crafted lines.
1. A Guiding Light!
by Laura Mckenzie
Prism’s shining
Guiding the way
The haunting of horns
On lighthouse bay!
2. The Poetess
by Pheko Motaung
The poetess
I miss her body next to mine
The lighthouse again
3. Lightkeeper
by Peter W Iversen
keeper tends beacon
frigid Atlantic anger
ice engulfs lighthouse
4. Take Me to The Moon
by Katherine Stella
flying under moon
lighthouse out my window
safeguarding her sea
5. Lighthouse Amazement
by Marty King
lighthouse amazement
beautiful scene at sundown
picturesque passion
6. Ery Ocean No Lighthouse
by Marty Owens
Surrounded by fog,
Ghostly ocean moves shipwrecks,
Rocks become tombstones.
7. Hatteras Lighthouse
by Thomas Martin
lighthouse
up the steps to observe
tiny people
scurrying around
like ants
8. Lighthouse
by Sean Tracy
My light will guide you
Though obstacles crowd your way
Your future shines bright
You will make it through unscathed
Here I stand to keep you strong
Long Lighthouse Poems
These long poetries about lighthouse offer a rich and immersive experience, taking readers on a journey through history, the sea, and the human spirit.
1. Minot’s Ledge
by Fitz-James O’Brien
Like spectral hounds across the sky,
The white clouds scud before the storm;
And naked in the howling night
The red-eyed lighthouse lifts its form.
The waves with slippery fingers clutch
The massive tower, and climb and fall,
And, muttering, growl with baffled rage
Their curses on the sturdy wall.
Up in the lonely tower he sits,
The keeper of the crimson light:
Silent and awe-struck does he hear
The imprecations of the night.
The white spray beats against the panes
Like some wet ghost that down the air
Is hunted by a troop of fiends,
And seeks a shelter anywhere.
He prays aloud, the lonely man,
For every soul that night at sea,
But more than all for that brave boy
Who used to gayly climb his knee,—
Young Charlie, with his chestnut hair,
And hazel eyes, and laughing lip.
“May Heaven look down,” the old man cries.
“Upon my son, and on his ship!”
While thus with pious heart he prays,
Far in the distance sounds a boom:
He pauses; and again there rings
That sullen thunder through the room.
A ship upon the shoals to-night!
She cannot hold for one half hour;
But clear the ropes and grappling hooks,
And trust in the Almighty Power!
On the drenched gallery he stands,
Striving to pierce the solid night:
Across the sea the red eye throws
A steady crimson wake of light;
And, where it falls upon the waves,
He sees a human head float by,
With long drenched curls of chestnut hair,
And wild but fearless hazel eye.
Out with the hooks! One mighty fling!
Adown the wind the long rope curls.
Oh! will it catch? Ah, dread suspense!
While the wild ocean wilder whirls.
A steady pull; it tightens now:
Oh! his old heart will burst with joy,
As on the slippery rocks he pulls
The breathing body of his boy.
Still sweep the specters through the sky;
Still scud the clouds before the storm;
Still naked in the howling night
The red-eyed lighthouse lifts its form.
Without, the world is wild with rage;
Unkenneled demons are abroad;
But with the father and the son
Within, there is the peace of God.
2. The Inchcape Rock
by Robert Southey
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The Ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.
Without either sign or sound of their shock,
The waves flow’d over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.
The Abbot of Aberbrothok
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.
When the Rock was hid by the surge’s swell,
The Mariners heard the warning Bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok
The Sun in the heaven was shining gay,
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round,
And there was joyaunce in their sound.
The buoy of the Inchcpe Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,
And fix’d his eye on the darker speck.
He felt the cheering power of spring,
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.
His eye was on the Inchcape Float;
Quoth he, “My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I’ll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”
The boat is lower’d, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the bell from the Inchcape Float.
Down sank the Bell with a gurgling sound,
The bubbles rose and burst around;
Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the Rock,
Won’t bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”
Sir ralph the Rover sail’d away,
He scour’d the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plunder’d store,
He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.
So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the sun on high;
The wind hath blown a gale all day,
At evening it hath died away.
On the deck the Rover takes his stand,
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, “It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising Moon.”
“Canst hear,” said one, “the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore.”
“Now, where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish we could hear the Inchcape Bell.”
They hear no sound, the swell is strong,
Though the wind hath fallen they drift along;
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,
“Oh Christ! It is the Inchcape Rock!”
Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,
He curst himself in his despair;
The waves rush in on every side,
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.
But even in his dying fear,
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear;
A sound as if with the Inchcape Bell,
The Devil below was ringing his knell.
3. The Lighthouse
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,
And on its outer point, some miles away,
The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,
A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.
Even at this distance I can see the tides,
Upheaving, break unheard along its base,
A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides
In the white lip and tremor of the face.
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!
Not one alone; from each projecting cape
And perilous reef along the ocean’s verge,
Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,
Holding its lantern o’er the restless surge.
Like the great giant Christopher it stands
Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,
Wading far out among the rocks and sands,
The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.
And the great ships sail outward and return,
Bending and bowing o’er the billowy swells,
And ever joyful, as they see it burn,
They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.
They come forth from the darkness, and their sails
Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,
And eager faces, as the light unveils,
Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.
The mariner remembers when a child,
On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;
And when, returning from adventures wild,
He saw it rise again o’er ocean’s brink.
Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same
Year after year, through all the silent night
Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,
Shines on that inextinguishable light!
It sees the ocean to its bosom clasp
The rocks and sea-sand with the kiss of peace;
It sees the wild winds lift it in their grasp,
And hold it up, and shake it like a fleece.
The startled waves leap over it; the storm
Smites it with all the scourges of the rain,
And steadily against its solid form
Press the great shoulders of the hurricane.
The sea-bird wheeling round it, with the din
Of wings and winds and solitary cries,
Blinded and maddened by the light within,
Dashes himself against the glare, and dies.
A new Prometheus, chained upon the rock,
Still grasping in his hand the fire of Jove,
It does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
But hails the mariner with words of love.
“Sail on!” it says, “sail on, ye stately ships!
And with your floating bridge the ocean span;
Be mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be yours to bring man nearer unto man!”
Lighthouse Poems That Rhyme
In this collection of poems about lighthouse with rhyme, we explore the playful and lyrical side of poetry, celebrating the beauty and symbolism of these coastal.
1. Drift into The Deep
by Joseph Sergi
As I lay my head down to sleep,
before I drift into the deep.
I thank the Lord for the day,
and pray for another chance to say.
I love you my dear with all my heart,
I’m sad and lonely when were apart.
But together we’ll grow old and gray,
in a lighthouse by the bay.
And as I drift into the deep,
I whisper “I love you” and fall asleep.
2. The Light-Houses
by Lucy Larcom
Two pale sisters, all alone,
On an island bleak and bare,
Listening to the breakers’ moan,
Shivering in the chilly air;
Looking inland towards a hill,
On whose top one aged tree
Wrestles with the storm-wind’s will,
Rushing, wrathful, from the sea.
Two dim ghosts at dusk they seem,
Side by side, so white and tall,
Sending one long, hopeless gleam
Down the horizon’s darkened wall.
Spectres, strayed from plank or spar,
With a tale none lives to tell,
Grazing at the town afar,
Where unconscious widows dwell.
Two white angels of the sea,
Guiding wave-worn wanderers home;
Sentinels of hope they be,
Drenched with sleet, and dashed with foam,
Standing there in loneliness,
Fireside joys for men to keep;
Through the midnight slumberless
That the quiet shore may sleep.
Two bright eyes awake all night
To the fierce moods of the sea;
Eyes that only close when light
Dawns on lonely hill and tree.
O kind watchers! teach us, too,
Steadfast courage, sufferance long!
Where an eye is turned to you,
Should a human heart grow strong.
3. The Lighthouse
by Jan Allison
I stand as a sentinel by day and night,
winking my eye to provide sailors light.
Huge waves hit my feet, yet I stay strong,
and I will remain on duty all year long
I love to feel the sea spray on my face,
and try to make the ocean a safer place
by warning the sailors of jagged rocks,
and guide them safely to local docks.
When fog blocks my view I sound my foghorn,
it booms out so loudly and is there to warn
the sailors of such tempestuous conditions
guiding their ships to much safer positions
4. A Lighthouse’s Soliloquy
by Anonymous
I remain standing thru the wind and rain
a statuesque symbol that stays the same
calling out to all on a stormy night
a message of safety in my steady light
built a century ago, tall and proud
to guard sailors and defy foggy clouds
there is no rest from this job that I do
sending my light thru the sky to you
a sailor long ago wrote me this poem:
lighthouse, oh lighthouse, please shine for me
across the wide ocean for all to see
protect us from rocks dangerously near
helping us sail the seas without fear
in the dark you illuminate the night
thru the fog and rain remaining bright
lighthouse, oh lighthouse, a friend to all
we rely on you to stand strong and tall!
and so I shine like God’s glorious sight
to guide you safely ’til dawn’s first light….
5. Your Endless Lighthouse Beam
by Terrell Martin
I miss you more than sky is blue
Piercing sunlight from beyond;
Days made old and mind anew
My weariness like a song:
When up is down too many few
Tightropes when you’re gone.
Needing you more than oceans deep
Currents in the flow;
Wide awake or drifting sleep
Lying in pure snow:
If I should die my soul to keep
Wherever you may go.
Remember me when I have sailed
To that far away world of dreams;
Think well of me though I have failed
From time to time it seems:
While upon my ship I’ll man the rails
In search of your endless lighthouse beam.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, these poems for lighthouse offer a unique perspective on the enduring appeal of these coastal sentinels.
These playful rhymes of unknown poets, these works celebrate the beauty, symbolism, and power of lighthouses in diverse and thought-provoking ways.
Whether you’re drawn to the sea, seeking guidance in times of grief, or simply captivated by the allure of lighthouses, these poetry about lighthouse offer something for everyone.
We encourage you to share your thoughts and reactions in the comments section below, and to continue exploring the rich world of lighthouse poetry for yourself.
