I’m embarrassed to admit the amount of time I spent growing up reading the World Book Encyclopedia. It has left me scarred for life. Still to this day, debris from that era swirls around in the whirlpool that is my mind.
Let me give you a prime example. Despite being a bibliophile for more than a half century, I never really cared for poetry. This has started to change lately, perhaps sparked by my love for the Psalms. Still, there was one poem I was introduced to through the glossy pages of the World Book that has long haunted me.
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, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy 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 laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
The chorus of John Masefield’s poem Sea-Fever have proven to be unforgettable to me. It’s strange the way that our minds sometimes work. Why would a landlubber like me get swept up in the ocean’s spray?
Maybe it’s not so surprising that Masefield’s words would echo in an Iowa boy’s ears and his heart. After all, what is prairie and soy and corn but a vast sea of their own?
Since my mom’s surgery and subsequent diagnosis of cancer, I’ve made numerous trips south to the Hawkeye state. I love those wide open spaces and their wind and their waves.
I MUST GO DOWN TO THE SEAS AGAIN
It's a wonderful poem (unlike you, I grew up around salt water and with the fear during hurricanes that the sea might come to us!)
One of my favorites too. I'm a prairie boy, but loved spending time on and near lakes.