Monday's Poetry: "Sea-Fever"

 

by Pa Rock

Poetry Appreciator

We have been in the throes of of miserably hot summer for the past few weeks in the Ozarks, but a nice rain early yesterday, just before daylight, has broken that heat, at least temporarily.  Still, it would be nice to stroll along a sandy beach somewhere, wet our feet at the fringe of the pulsing waters, and fight the call to wade ever deeper.

I ran into an old friend on-line this morning, a poem about the sea that was penned more than a century ago (1902) by John Masefield, a man who went on to become the poet laureate of England from 1930 until his death in 1967.  "Sea-Fever" is one of his best loved works, a poem that students used to have to learn and recite in schools, and one that is sometimes used at funerals.

"Sea-Fever" is a story about returning to a calmer existence, a serenity that perhaps precedes and follows the chaos that passes for life.  It can also serve as a relaxing and meditative pause in one's busy day.  Listen to the gulls, feel the wet sand oozing between your toes, and breath-in the salt-tinged pungency of faraway shores.   The sea is reaching to bring us home.

Sea-Fever 

by John Masefield

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.