Sea Fever
By John Masefield
1. I must go down to the seas again, to the
lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer
her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and
the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey
dawn breaking,
2. I must go down to the seas again, for the
call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be
denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white
clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume,
and the sea-gulls crying.
Masefield went to sea as a young man to try
to throw off his bookish ways – but the
treatment failed. He acquired an interest in
poetry and got down to reading and writing
even more seriously while working in a large
carpet factory near New York.
Sea Fever, arguably one of this nation's
favourite poems, first appeared in 1902 a
collection titled Salt-Water Ballads. In 1903 he
published a further collection, Ballads, which
included another favourite, Cargoes:
Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked
smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the
mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, ironware, and cheap tin
trays.
I haven't thought of a tune for that!
For more about Masefield and this poem, see:
http://allpoetry.com/Sea-Fever
3. I must go down to the seas again, to the
vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where
the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing
fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the
long trick’s over.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Masefield