JohnMasefieldHisBriefIntroductionJohnEdwardMasefield(1June1878–12May1967)wasanEnglishpoetandwriter,and

PoetLaureateoftheUnitedKingdom

from1930untilhisdeathin1967.Heisrememberedastheauthoroftheclassicchildren'snovels

TheMidnightFolk

and

TheBoxofDelights,andpoems,including"TheEverlastingMercy"and"Sea-Fever".HisEarlyLifeMasefieldwasbornin

Ledburyin

Herefordshire.HismotherdiedgivingbirthtohissisterwhenMasefieldwasonlysix,andhewenttolivewithhisaunt.Hisfatherdiedsoonafterfollowingamentalbreakdown.

Afteranunhappyeducationatthe

King'sSchool

in

Warwick

(nowknownasWarwickSchool),wherehewasaboarderbetween1888and1891,helefttoboardthe

HMS

Conway,bothtotrainforalifeatsea,andtobreakhisaddictiontoreading,ofwhichhisauntthoughtlittle.Hespentseveralyearsaboardthisshipandfoundthathecouldspendmuchofhistimereadingandwriting.ItwasaboardtheConwaythatMasefield'sloveforstory-tellinggrew.Whileontheship,helistenedtothestoriestoldaboutsealore.Hecontinuedtoread,andfeltthathewastobecomeawriterandstorytellerhimself.HeeventuallyreturnedhometoEnglandin1897

asapassengeraboardasteamship.WhenMasefieldwas23,hemethisfuturewife,ConstanceCrommelin,whowas35.Educatedinclassicsand

EnglishLiterature,andamathematicsteacher,ConstancewasagoodmatchforMasefielddespitethedifferenceinage.Thecouplehadtwochildren(Judith,bornin1904,andLewis,in1910).Bythetimehewas24,Masefield'spoemswerebeingpublishedinperiodicalsandhisfirstcollectedworks,

Salt-WaterBallads

(1902)waspublished,thepoem"Sea-Fever"appearinginthisbook.Masefieldthenwrotethenovels,

CaptainMargaret

(1908)and

MultitudeandSolitude

(1909).In1911,afteralongdroughtofpoemwriting,hecomposed"TheEverlastingMercy",thefirstofhis

narrativepoems,andwithinthenextyear,Masefieldhadproducedtwomore,"TheWidowintheByeStreet"and"Dauber".Asaresult,Masefieldbecamewidelyknowntothepublicandwaspraisedbycritics,andin1912,hewasawardedtheannualEdmonddePolignacprize.Imustgodowntotheseasagain,tothelonelyseaandthesky,

AndallIaskisatallshipandastartosteerherby;

Andthewheel'skickandthewind'ssongandthewhitesail'sshaking,

Andagreymistonthesea'sface,andagreydawnbreaking,

Imustgodowntotheseasagain,forthecalloftherunningtide

Isawildcallandaclearcallthatmaynotbedenied;

AndallIaskisawindydaywiththewhitecloudsflyingAndtheflungsprayandtheblownspume,andthesea-gullscrying.

From"Sea-Fever",in

Salt-WaterBallads

(1902)WorldWarItoappointmentasPoetLaureate

WhenWorldWarIbegan,thougholdenoughtobeexemptedfrommilitaryservice,MasefieldjoinedthestaffofaBritishhospitalforFrenchsoldiers,

H?pitalTemporaired'Arc-en-Barrois,

Haute-Marne,France,servingbrieflyin1915asahospitalorderly,laterpublishinghisownaccountofhisexperiences.In1921,MasefieldreceivedanHonoraryDoctorateofLiteraturefromOxfordUniversity,andin1923,organizedtheOxfordRecitations,anannualcontestwhosepurposewas"todiscovergoodspeakersofverseandtoencourage‘thebeautifulspeakingofpoetry.’"TheRecitationswereseenasasuccessgiventhenumbersofcontestapplicants,thepromotionofnaturalspeechinpoeticalrecitations,andthenumberofpeoplelearninghowtolistentopoetry.Masefieldbegantoquestionhowever,whethertheRecitationsshouldcontinueasacontest,believingthattheeventshouldbecomemoreofafestival.In1929,Masefieldbrokewiththecontestconcept,andtheRecitationscametoanend.Poetrycollections

Salt-WaterBallads

(1902)

Ballads

(1903)BalladsandPoems

(1910)TheEverlastingMercy

(1911)Dauber

(1912)TheDaffodilFields

(1913)TheStoryofaRoundHouseandOtherPoems

(1915)Salt-WaterPoemsandBallads

(1916)Sonnets

(1916)PhiliptheKingandOtherPoems

(1916)LollingdonDownsandOtherPoemswithSonnets

(1917)EnslavedandOtherPoems

(1920)Rosas

(1918)SelectedPoems

(1922)KingColeandOtherPoems

(1923)TheDreamandOtherPoems

(1923)TheCollectedPoemsofJohnMasefield

(1923)Poems

(1925)MidsummerNightandOtherTalesinVerse

(1928)ALetterfromPontusandOtherVerse

(1936)TheCountryScene

(1937)SomeVersestoSomeGermans

(1939)TheBluebellsandOtherVerses

(1961)OldRaigerandOtherVerses

(1964)InGladThanksgiving

(1966)Novels

ABookofDiscoveries

(Dateunknown)ATarpaulinMuster

(1907)CaptainMargaret

(1908)MultitudeandSolitude

(1909)MartinHyde:TheDuke'sMessenger

(1910)LostEndeavour

(Nelson,1910).TheStreetofToday

(1911)JimDavis

(WellsGardner,1911).TheDream

(MacMillan,1922)IllustratedbyJudithMasefield.SardHarker

(Heinemann,1924)ODTAA

(1926)TheMidnightFolk

(1927)TheHawbucks

(1929)TheBirdofDawning

(Heinemann,1933).TheTakingoftheGry

(1934)TheBoxofDelights:orWhentheWolvesWereRunning

(1935)VictoriousTroy:orTheHarryingAngel

(1935)EggsandBaker

(1936)TheSquarePeg:orTheGunFella

(1937)DeadNed

(1938)LiveandKickingNed

(1939)Basilissa:ATaleoftheEmpressTheodora

(1940)Conquer:ATaleoftheNikaRebellioninByzantium

(1941)BadonParchments

(1947)Plays

TheCampdenWonder

(1907)TheTragedyofPompeytheGreat(1910)GoodFriday:APlayinVerse

(1916)TheTragedyofNan

(Originallyknownas

Nan)TristanandIsolt

(1927)"TheComingofChrist"(1928)HisLaterYearsAfterhisappointment,Masefieldwasawardedthe

OrderofMerit

byKingGeorgeVandmanyhonorarydegreesfromBritishuniversities,in1937beingelectedasPresidentofthe

SocietyofAuthors.MasefieldencouragedthecontinueddevelopmentofEnglishliteratureandpoetry,andbegantheannualawardingofthe

RoyalMedalsforPoetry

forafirstorsecondpublishededitionofpoetrybyapoetundertheageof35.Additionally,hisspeakingengagementswerecallinghimfurtheraway,oftenonmuchlongertours,yethestillproducedsignificantamountsofworkinawidevarietyofgenres.Tothosehehadalreadyusedhenowaddedautobiography,producing

NewChum,

IntheMill,and

SoLongtoLearn.SomecriticsjudgedMasefieldtobeanevenfinerwriterofprosethanofverse.Itwasnotuntilabouttheageof70thatMasefieldslowedhispaceduetoillness.In1960,Constancediedat93,afteralongillness.Althoughherdeathwasheartrending,hehadspentatiringyear