And all’s right with the world

On Penobscot Bay

“Nautilus Island’s hermit

heiress still lives through winter in her Spartan cottage;

her sheep still graze above the sea.

Her son’s a bishop. Her farmer

is first selectman in our village,

she’s in her dotage.’’

— From “Skunk Hour,’’ by Robert Lowell (1917-1977). Nautilus Island, part of Brooksville, Maine, is a private estate in Penobscot Sound.