Sea Fever

[hbsteve]

This is a poem first published in1902, by John Masefield.  I couldn't drag & drop, so I wrote it out here.  I realize that he is talking about sailing.  But, even more is the power the ocean holds over him.  Until I found it again recently, I thought it was called "The Sea Calls to the Sailor".

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 sail 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
It 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.