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Salt FeverI 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.
John Masefield (1878-1967)
English author and poet larueate
(1930-1967)
from Salt-Water Poems and Ballads |