One of the 20th century’s most accomplished poets, John Edward Masefield (1878-1967), is best remembered for a short poem about the sea. Although Masefield published dozens of works that included novels, essays, historical books, plays, and poetry, his three-stanza “Sea-Fever” continues to resonate with seasoned sailors and landlubbers alike.
In 1902, when Masefield was only 24, he published his first poetry collection Salt-Water Ballads, in which “Sea-Fever” first appeared. By then, he had already cultivated a deep love of the ocean. Some of his earliest seafaring experiences included sailing aboard various tall ships bound for destinations as far-flung as Chile and New York.
While exploring and tramping about the United States, he pursued odd jobs, worked as a barkeeper’s assistant, and toiled in a carpet factory before finding success as a writer. His first collection, Salt-Water Ballads, launched a career that took him from laborer to celebrated author.
From vagabond to poet laureate
In 1930, Masefield became Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. He held the appointment under four different monarchs until his death in 1967. Alfred, Lord Tennyson is the only other person to serve the position longer.
Masefield’s ashes are placed in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey (burial site of Geoffrey Chaucer and Charles Dickens, among others). His plain-spoken “Sea-Fever”— particularly its timeless second line—remains the ultimate evocation of sailing tall ships. Occasionally, the verse even crops up in popular culture, as quoted by film and TV characters ranging from Willy Wonka to Captain James T. Kirk.
The collection in which the poem first appeared, Salt-Water Ballads, is also notable for the accompanying illustrations by British artist Charles Pears (1873-1958). Pears served as an officer and “war artist” in both WWI and WWII, and he was the first elected president of the Royal Society of Marine Artists. Today his work graces the collections of several prominent museums, including England’s National Maritime Museum and the Tate.
Below is the original version of “Sea-Fever”, which opens with the idiomatic “I MUST down to the seas again…” rather than “I must go down…”, which is how the poem appeared in later collections. Both the poem and the illustrations are now in the public domain.—editor
Sea-Fever
by John Masefield
I MUST 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 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.
I must 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.
