This illustration shows the edge of Romney Marsh as though one stands upon it, the higher land rising up ahead. The sea, almost level with the land, washes over it in the tide, and is all around. On the other side of the submerged landscape, connected only by a narrow ford remaining above the water, we see the “lonely cottage, or barn” of the kind Gilpin describes.

Despite the way this landscape can be portrayed Romantically, for Gilpin (understandably, given his intimate connections to the importance of coastal economies, with his parish dependent on the sea for its subsistence) it is understood in entirely practical terms. Disagreeable to live in, but good for pasturing livestock. Despite this, he nevertheless acknowledges the inherently poetic liminal, ever-changing nature of the coast and its interactions with the land.

This poem by John Davidson focuses little on the land itself at all. It shares mention of the solitary and ruined buildings with Gilpin, as these are a poetic staple, but besides this focuses its attention less on Romney Marsh itself and, like Gilpin’s illustration, focuses on what one can see from Romney Marsh: the sea, the sky, the sunset, the ships.