The poet observes a town that the painter Dürer would have loved. It has eight beached whales, sweet air, and whirling seagulls. The sea is abundant; there is a twenty-five pound lobster and fish nets drying.
A storm comes and disturbs the placid scene, and the chaos and confusion amuse the poet.
There are a myriad of flowers and trees even though it is not a tropical landscape. There may be no exotic plants or cobras, but there are cats and newts.
Ambrose, a college student from out of town, sits with his books and looks at this place he knows and loves so well. He admires its elegance.
The steeple-jack, C.J. Poole, is dressed in red and letting a rope down the church spire. He sets up a sign near the church that says “Danger.” The church has white stone pillars and would be a good place for society’s rejects.
Other buildings exist in this town, and it is home to all of the different types of people—the hero, the student, the steeple-jack—in its own way. It does not seem like a dangerous place; the people are simple, and there is a sign set up to warn against danger while the steeple-jack is gilding the steeple’s star.
