At the end of the 19th century, Timothy Otis Paine penned the poem of Helen of White Horse. In this poem, Roland romances the fair Helen in the dunes of White Horse Beach. Their summer romance of trysts and kisses is thwarted by her father who refuses to grant Roland her hand. Despite this, they continue to see one another until the end of summer brings its inevitable separation. Roland must return to the sea. Helen pleas again with her father but he will hear nothing of it. Roland leaves and beyond heart broken, Helen takes the family’s white horse, and according to poem and legend rides the horse into the ocean. Like Capulet’s regret, her father cries: “Come back, my daughter!…I will no more oppose!” With all the makings of a great love story, Paine does not leave us here, but gives us this final stanza, a promise of eternal love.

Jessica Connelly, Neighbor