Flannan Isle
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"Flannan Isle" is a poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, first published in 1912. It refers to a mysterious incident that occurred on the Flannan Isles in 1900, when three lighthouse-keepers disappeared without explanation.[1][2]
The poem begins:
"Though three men dwell on Flannan Isle
To keep the lamp alight,
As we steer'd under the lee, we caught
No glimmer through the night."
A passing ship at dawn had brought
The news; and quickly we set sail,
To find out what strange thing might ail
The keepers of the deep-sea light.[3]
— Stanzas 1-2
The remaining stanzas record the increasing tension of the relief party as they search the lighthouse and island, finding no sign of life but three strange birds that plunge from sight. At the ending, conscious of Flannan Isle's history of unexplained tragedies:
We seem'd to stand for an endless while,
Though still no word was said,
Three men alive on Flannan Isle,
Who thought on three men dead."
— Stanza 13
