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"'When freezing aloft in a snorter, I tell you I wish—
(Though maybe it ain't like a Christian)MI wish I could be
A haughty old copper-bound albatross dipping for fish
And coming the proud over all o' the birds o' the sea.'"
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. Sea Change (l. 13-16). . .
Oxford Book of Modern Verse, The, 1892-1935. William Butler Yeats, ed. (1936) Oxford University Press. |
"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."
John Masefield (1874-1967), British poet, playwright. "Sea Fever," st. 2, Salt-Water Ballads (1902).
The line appears as "I must go down to the seas again ... " in some collections, and in John Ireland's musical setting of the poem; though apparently not in Masefield's drafts, nor in the first published version. |
"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,"
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. Sea Fever (l. 1-2). . .
Modern American & British Poetry. Louis Untermeyer, ed., in consultation with Karl Shapiro and Richard Wilbur. (Rev., shorter ed., 1955) Harcourt, Brace and Company. |
"Out of the earth to rest or range
Perpetual in perpetual change,
The unknown passing through the strange."
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. The Passing Strange (l. 1-3). . .
Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939) Oxford University Press. |
"Since moons decay and suns decline,
How else should end this life of mine?"
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. The Passing Strange (l. 46-47). . .
Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939) Oxford University Press. |
"They change, and we, who pass like foam,
Like dust blown through the streets of Rome,
Change ever, too; we have no home,"
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. The Passing Strange (l. 61-63). . .
Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939) Oxford University Press. |
"But gathering as we stray, a sense
Of Life, so lovely and intense,
It lingers when we wander hence,
That those who follow feel behind
Their backs, when all before is blind,
Our joy, a rampart to the mind."
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. The Passing Strange (l. 67-72). . .
Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939) Oxford University Press. |
"Commonplace people dislike tragedy because they dare not suffer and cannot exult."
John Masefield (1874-1967), British poet, playwright. The Tragedy of Nan, preface (1908). |
"It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries;
I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes."
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. The West Wind (l. 1-2). . .
Modern American & British Poetry. Louis Untermeyer, ed., in consultation with Karl Shapiro and Richard Wilbur. (Rev., shorter ed., 1955) Harcourt, Brace and Company. |
"It's a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine,
Apple orchards blossom there, and the air's like wine."
John Masefield (1878-1967), British poet. The West Wind (l. 5-6). . .
Modern American & British Poetry. Louis Untermeyer, ed., in consultation with Karl Shapiro and Richard Wilbur. (Rev., shorter ed., 1955) Harcourt, Brace and Company. |
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John Masefield
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