Quotes from John Masefield

Poetry is a mixture of common sense, which not all have, with an uncommon sense, which very few have.

Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain.

I must 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 gray mist on the sea's face and a gray dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrantgypsy 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 laughingfellow rover,And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Since the printing press came into being, poetry has ceased to be the delight of the whole community of man; it has become the amusement and delight of the few.

There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university ... a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see.

The days that make us happy make us wise.

Life, a beauty chased by tragic laughter.

The distant soul can shake the distant friend's soul and make the longing felt, over untold miles.

Only the road and the dawn, the sun, the wind, and the rain, And the watch fire under stars, and sleep, and the road again.

I have seen flowers come in stony places And kind things done by men with ugly faces, And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races, So I trust, too.

All I ask is a tall ship and a star to sail her by.

Christmas ought to be brought up to date," Maria said. "It ought to have gangsters, and aeroplanes and a lot of automatic pistols.

Men in a ship are always looking up, and men ashore are usually looking down.

Most roads lead men homewards, My road leads forth.

The Thames is a wretched river after the Mersey and the ships are not like Liverpool ships and the docks are barren of beauty ... it is a beastly hole after Liverpool; for Liverpool is the town of my heart and I would rather sail a mudflat there than command a clipper out of London

But Time and Tide and Buttered Eggs wait for no man.

I must go down to the sea...to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by......

Beauty you lifted up my sleeping eye And filled my heart with longing with a look.

A wind's in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels

I must go down to the sea again, for the call of the running tide, is a wild call and a clear call, that cannot be denied!

Therefore, go forth, companion: when you find No highway more, no track, all being blind, The way to go shall glimmer in the mind. Though you have conquered Earth and Charted Sea And planned the courses of all Stars that be, Adventure on, more wonders are in Thee. Adventure on, for from the littlest clue Has come whatever worth man ever knew; The next to lighten all men may be you . . .

The wolves are running.

It,s hard not to be able. There, look there!/ I cannot get the movement nor the light;/Sometimes it almost makes a man despair/To try and try and never get it right./Oh, if I could -oh, if I only might,/I wouldn,t mind what hells I,d have to pass,/Not if the whole world called me fool and ass." Dauber (A poem). John Masefield. 1916. London William Heinemann