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Sea Fever by John Masefield

Sea Fever by John Masefield
Context
Masefield spent years (became a merchant) at sea after dropping out of boarding school at the age of 15
His love of the sea and awe of nature that surrounded him permeate his poetry
Vocabulary
Sail - On a ship usually made out of cloth
Mist - Something caused by small droplets of water suspended in air
Tide - Rise and Fall of sea levels
Denied - Not allowed / Refused
Flung - Thrown / Hurled
Blown Spume - Froth / Spray
Vagrant - Roams around / Tramp
Gypsy - Traveller
Annotations
"I must go down to the sea again
Repeated at the beginning of each stanza
Emphasises how much the speaker want to go to sea
Personification; we have an image that the sea wants him as well
The poet creates a list of things he wants, by using 'and' and there by creating an anaphora
"grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking
Enchanting beauty of the sea
Cerates imagery
Repetition of grey could suggest a mood
Lonliness
A Dull Mood
1st Stanza
2nd Stanza
The tide is described as running
Personification
The tide is always moving, calling the speaker which suggests that the sea wants the speaker to visit it as well
'wild call and a clear call'
The sea is unpredictable hence wild
The use of 'clear' suggests that the speaker understands this strong call
Reference to senses in last verse
What can you feel?
In this case it the wind and the sea
3rd Stanza
'The vagrant gypsy life'
reference to living as someone who roams around
someone who is a traveller
'wind's like a whetted knife'
suggests that the wind is 'cutting'
The knife is sharpened - 'whetted'
'merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover'
A form of entertainment between the sailors
They would sing sea shanty songs
Suggests a comradery among the sailors
'quiet sleep and sweet dream when the long trick's over'
Sailor asks for a rest once his 'shift' is over
His shift is steering the ship
Good Quotes
'I must go down to the seas again,, to the lonely sea and the sky'
Repeated in every stanza
Shows poet's longing to be at sea
'gull's way and the whales way where the winds' like a whetted knife'
Alliteration of the 'w'
Simile 'like a whetted knife'
423
author WSkEMZ5V
Annotations on the poem Sea Fever by John Masefield
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