Sea-Fever By John Masefield

[conuly]

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-gulls crying.

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.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54932/sea-fever-56d235e0d871e

Comments

[isis]

I've always loved this poem!

(I wrote a Cthulhu Mythos parody of it a few years back for a drabble exchange, too.)

[conuly]

If you have a link, I'd love to read it.

[dine]

thanks for posting this! I've long liked this poem, though cannot randomly recall more than those fantastic first lines

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's an old favorite.

[isis]

Shoggoth Fever

[senmut]

Love that one.

[larryhammer]

👍 would anthologize again

[flamingsword]

I always get so sad now, when I see old favorites from when I was a kid that have words like g***y in them. Having recently learned that it’s a slur for Romany people, and having been called slurs myself, I just can’t look past that and still have them be my favorite. 😞