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"Sea-Fever" is one of John Masefield's  most anthologised poems, much quoted, too. Even Capt. Kirk quotes it in ST:TOS, "all I need is a tall ship and a star to steer her by..."

Sea-Fever

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... )
Many thanks to
debriswoman  who informed me some weeks ago, to my profound amusement, and surprise--I was sure he was an accomplished sailor-- that, quite on the contrary, John Masefield was reported to be a bad sailor. His wife said he had felt ill when a trip on a liner was too "uppy-downy".

debriswoman also provided the following parody of the poem above, published in the Faber Book of Parodies, which includes a number of parodies of well-known classic poems and authors. I present it here:


by  Arthur Guiterman  (1871-1943)
I must go down to the seas again, where the billows romp and reel,
So all I ask is a large ship that rides on an even keel,
And a mild breeze and a broad deck with a slight list to leeward,
And a clean chair in a snug nook and a nice, kind steward.


( I must go down to the seas again... )

~~~
Faint reflection nebulae VdB 14 and VdB 15 in Camelopardalis http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=29452&start=200#p184646 Copyright: Milos Hroch
~~~
I could not sleep for thinking of the sky,
The unending sky, with all its million suns
Which turn their planets everlastingly
In nothing, where the fire-haired comet runs.

If I could sail that nothing, I should cross
Silence and emptiness with dark stars passing,
Then, in the darkness, see a point of gloss
Burn to a glow, and glare, and keep amassing,

And rage into a sun with wandering planets
And drop behind, and then, as I proceed,
See his last light upon his last moon’s granites
Die to dark that would be night indeed.

Night where my soul might sail a million years
In nothing, not even death, not even tears.

(John Masefield)

Originally posted by exceptindreams at 1560: Tulips | A.E. Stallings