Sea Fever

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I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky….

It’s not quite that lonely down by the sea at Dawlish, our delightful seaside hometown, where I shall be heading in a little over a week, but I do miss it… And I can hardly wait to see all my English family and friends again. Oh, and of course, it will be wonderful to see Chris, my beloved husband (we just had our seventeenth anniversary!). Talking of Chris, he sent me these photographs of the wild sea – taken from our balcony.

By coincidence, as I was checking out John Masefield on Wikipedia I discovered that the famous poet was born in Abingdon, Berkshire – home of Chris’s illustrious forbears (Robert Orpwood, mayor of Abingdon).

 

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.
John Edward Masefield in 1916.jpg

John Masefield in 1916
Born 1 June 1878
Ledbury, Herefordshire, England
Died 12 May 1967 (aged 88)
Abingdon, Berkshire, England
Occupation poet, writer
Nationality English
Period 1902–1967
Genre poetry, children’s novels
Notable awards Shakespeare Prize (1938)

 

Robert Orpwood of Abingdon – painted circa 1615. Very pretty in his ruff but not a patch on Chris!

2 thoughts on “Sea Fever”

  1. Ruff! Ruff! (as they say in BARKshire, where Abingdon is situated) …and did you know that Abingdon was also the home of the equally-illustrious MG Car Company, which started life in the thirties as “Morris Garages”? I wonder if the current Chinese owners of the company know that in Shanghai? Oh, and that bloke in the picture…he’s certainly no oil painting!…or is he?

    • Methinks he was a “top dog” in his day! Being in Berkshire perhaps his berk was worse than his bite! And fancy that! As you may know I’m rather keen on sporty cars…

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