Sea Fever

I remember studying this poem as a child at school (could be giving my age away here), and I could almost quote it verbatim when I came across it in a magazine recently. Its by John Masefield:

I must go down to the sea 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 whitesail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of therunning tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

All I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the

flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls 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 a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trip's over.