''Salt-Water Poems and Ballads'' is a book of poetry on themes of seafaring and maritime history by

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

. It was first published in 1916 by Macmillan, with illustrations by Charles Pears. Many of the poems had been published in Masefield's earlier collections, ''Salt-Water Ballads'' (1902), ''Ballads'' (1903) and ''Ballads and Poems'' (1910). They were included in ''The Collected Poems of John Masefield'' published by Heinemann in 1923. ''Salt-Water Poems and Ballads'' includes "Sea-Fever" and "Cargoes", two of Masefield's best known poems.

"Sea-Fever"

"Sea-Fever" first appeared in ''Salt-Water Ballads'' – Masefield's first volume of poetry published in 1902 in London by Grant Richards. In ''The Collected Poems of John Masefield'' the opening line was changed to the text now more commonly anthologised: "I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky". The first lines of the second and third stanzas retained the form "I must down to the seas again ...

"Cargoes"

"Cargoes" first appeared in ''Ballads'' – Masefield's second volume of poetry, published in 1903 in London by Elkin Mathews.

Musical settings

"Sea-Fever" has been set to music by many composers, including Stephen DeCesare, John Coventry on his EP "The Roots of Folk Volume 2" and Patrick Clifford on his album ''

American Wake ''American Wake'' is the third album by Kansas City Celtic rock band The Elders. Track listing # "Moore St. Girls" # "Hardline" # "American Wake" # "St. Kevin" # "Men of Erin Erin is a Hiberno-English word for Ireland originating fr ...

''; the most famous version is by

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

. The poem has also been set, for boys' emerging voices, by

Oliver Tarney Oliver Tarney is a British sound supervisor and sound designer who is most known for his work with Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass. Tarney was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing for the 2013 film '' Captain Phillips''. He wa ...

and published by Oxford University Press. and by Kavisha Mazzella, a Western Australia-born musician and artist.

Andy Vine Andy Vine is a Welsh-born Canadian folk musician from Vancouver. Music Andy's musical style is described as "maritime folk, old-time rock and Celtic". He released his first album "Making Waves" in 2005. One song from this album ("Woman of Labr ...

, an English songwriter, has also set the words to a folk melody of his own invention. English composer Frederick Keel (1871-1954) set three of the poems for voice and piano in his 1919 collection ''Three Salt-Water Ballads'': "Port of Many Ships", "Trade Winds" and "Mother Carey".

Cultural references

"Sea-Fever" is quoted by

Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor ...

in the 1971 film ''

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl. The film ...

''. The poem is quoted in part by

Captain James T. Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk leads ...

in both the ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'' episode " The Ultimate Computer" and the film '' Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' and is also quoted in the 2004 film ''

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...

''. Sea-Fever is also recited in during the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

scene in the 12-hour

Facebook Live Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of t ...

event episode of The Third Day (miniseries), Part 2: Autumn.

References

External links