Sea Fever by John Masefield
The author and the text: John Edward Masefield (1878-1967) was an English poet, writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 till his death. He is also remembered as the author of the childrens' novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights. The poem speaks of the excitement the poet feels at the anticipation of a sea- voyage. The passionate description of the seascape reveals the eternal desire of man to seek the splendour of nature. Read the following: 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. 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-g