John Masefield

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British poet John Edward Masefield was born in Herefordshire. He studied at Warwick School before training as a merchant seaman. In 1895, he deserted his ship in New York City and worked there in a carpet factory before returning to London to write poems describing his experience at sea. Masefield was appointed British poet laureate in 1930. Source

Sea-Fever

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 gray mist on the sea’s face and a great 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.

Published:

1902

Length:

Regular

Literary Movements:

Romanticism

Anthology Years:

2022

Themes:

Joy & Praise

Nature

Literary Devices:

Alliteration

the repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words appearing in succession

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds that takes place in two or more words in proximity to each other within a line; usually refers to the repetition of internal vowel sounds in words that do not end the same.

End Rhyme

when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same

Hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

Imagery

visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work

Personification

the attribution of human qualities to a non-human thing

Repetition

a recurrence of the same word or phrase two or more times

Transferred Epithet

When an adjective usually used to describe one thing is transferred to another.