SUMMERY

John Masefield is a well known English writer and poet. He is best remembered as the author of
the classics for children names as “The Midnight Folk” and as a poet for his works such as “Sea
fever.”
At the age of sixteen he entered to the world of Merchant Navy. However his passion for reading
and writing was still continued while at board. While being aboard is when he realized that his
passion should be bought out and he should be a writer by himself.

During his tenure as a sailor, he had to face many sea sicknesses and finally in the year 1895,
when his ship boarded New York City, he deserted the ship and walked out to be writer. Even
though it was his dream to be a writer, before he could make it he has to sustain on many odd
jobs and traveled lots to keep going. Finally by 1902, he got his dream come true. His poems and
novels started to get published.

In 1895, Masefield happened to read a New York periodical, the Truth, which contained the poem
‘The Piper of Arll’ by Duncan Scott. After near to 10 years, Masefield wrote to Scott, what it
meant for him to read that poem. From that poem is how he got inspired to poetry and that poem
had deeply influenced him to turn to poetry.

THEM

Being a sailor, he enjoyed the loneliness and quiet environment of the sea. In the poem, Sea
Fever, Masefield expresses his desire for sailing once again in the quite sea, under the quiet sky.
He expresses his desire for the need of a well built ship to sail and a star in the dark sky to act
as a guide. Soon the adventures would begun and as each day dawns, he wakes up to see the
early grey mist rise from the sea.

In the poem, the poet expresses his strong desire to get back to the se as the call from the sea
cannot be ignored or denied. He wishes that there would be strong winds that would blow away
the thick white clouds in the sky and take the sail forward throughout the day. Watching from the
shore fills his heart with the adventure and spirit.

The last para explains that the poet would like to be a wandering gypsy , however he would miss
the sea gulls and the white whales and most of all his time spent with his fellow men at the deck
, listening to tales and good and silent sleep which drifts into a sweet dream.

This poem clearly shows how Masefield had enjoyed his days on the sea and he would like to
have a part of it, even after he has left is far behind following his passions.
 John Edward Masefield

John Edward Masefield OM (/ˈmeɪsˌfiːld, ˈmeɪz-/; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer,
and the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's
novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and the poems "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever"

Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to George Masefield, a solicitor, and his wife Caroline.
His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was six and he went to live with his aunt. His father
died soon afterwards, following a mental breakdown.[1] After an unhappy education at the King's
School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left
to board HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea and to break his addiction to reading, of which his aunt
thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship, and found that he could spend much of his time reading
and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield's love of story-telling grew. While he was on the ship he
listened to the stories told about sea lore, continued to read, and decided that he was to become a writer and
story-teller himself.

From the First World War to appointment as Poet Laureate[edit]

When the First World War began in 1914 Masefield was old enough to be exempted from military service, but he joined the staff of
a British hospital for French soldiers, the Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois in Haute-Marne, serving briefly in 1915 as a hospital
orderly. He later published an account of his experiences. At about this time Masefield moved his country retreat from
Buckinghamshire to Lollingdon Farm in Cholsey, Berkshire, a setting that inspired a number of poems and sonnets under the
title Lollingdon Downs, and which his family used until 1917.
After returning home Masefield was invited to the United States on a three-month lecture tour. Although his primary purpose was to
lecture on English literature, he also intended to collect information on the mood and views of Americans regarding the war in
Europe. When he returned to England he submitted a report to the British Foreign Office and suggested that he should be allowed
to write a book about the failure of the Allied effort in the Dardanelles that might be used in the United States to counter German
propaganda there. The resulting work, Gallipoli, was a success. Masefield then met the head of British Military Intelligence in
France and was asked to write an account of the Battle of the Somme. Although Masefield had grand ideas for his book, he was
denied access to official records and what was intended to be the preface was published as The Old Front Line, a description of the
geography of the Somme area.

Song settings[edit]
In addition to the commission for Queen Alexandra's Memorial Ode with music by Elgar, many of Masefield's short
poems were set as art songs by British composers of the time.[14] Best known by far is John Ireland's "Sea-
Fever".[15] Frederick Keel composed several songs drawn from the Salt-Water Ballads and elsewhere. Of these, "Trade
Winds" was particularly popular in its day,[16] despite the tongue-twisting challenges the text presents to the
singer.[17] Keel's defiant setting of "Tomorrow", written while interned at Ruhleben during World War I,[16] was frequently
programmed at the BBC Proms after the war.[18] Another memorable wartime composition is Ivor Gurney's climactic
declamation of "By a bierside", a setting quickly set down in 1916 during a brief spell behind the lines.[

SEE FEVER POEM INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS

ohn Masefield’s poem “Sea Fever” is a work of art that brings beauty to the English language through its use of rhythm,
imagery and many complex figures of speech. The meter in “Sea Fever” follows the movement of the tall ship in rough water
through its use of iambs and hard hitting spondees. Although written primarily in iambic meter, the meter in “Sea Fever”
varies throughout the poem. The imagery in “Sea Fever” suggests an adventurous ocean that appeals to all five senses.
Along with an adventurous ocean, “Sea Fever” also sets a mood of freedom through imagery of traveling gypsies.
Perhaps, the most complex part of this poem is the use of personification and metaphor. These figures of speech go beyond
the meter and
imagery to compare life to a sea voyage and portray a strong longing for the sea. The two main themes of “Sea Fever” bring
the reader closer to the sea and help the reader understand why the speaker must return to the sea. “Sea Fever” not only
depicts a strong longing for the sea through its theme, but also through use of complex figures of speech, imagery, and
meter. “Sea Fever” is an excellent example of varied meter which follows the actions of a tall ship through high seas and
strong wind. Lines one and two contain the common iambic meter found throughout the poem. “Sea Fever” may be
categorized as a sea chantey due to its iambic meter and natural rhythm which gives it a song like quality. This song like
quality is created through the use of iambic meter and alliteration. For example, lines three and ten contain the repeated
consonant sound of the letter “w”. In line three, the meter becomes spondaic through the use of strongly stressed syllables.
These spondees suggest the repeated slapping of waves.