Online Portfolio of Sten-Robert Pullerits: Poetry of John Masefield (Analysis)

The poetry of John Masefield

An analysis by Sten-Robert Pullerits

John Edward Masefield (Born 1 June, 1878 and died 12 May, 1967) was an English poet and writer. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, nineteen other novels (including Captain Margaret, Multitude and Solitude and Sard Harker), and many memorable poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever", from his anthology Saltwater Ballads.

The purpose of this written paper is to analyze the themes, style and backround of poetry written by John Masefield as well as come to a conclusion of what Masefield wrote about and what were his favourite themes.

A Ballad of John Silver

We were schooner-rigged and rakish,

with a long and lissome hull,

And we flew the pretty colours of the crossbones and the skull;

We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore,

And we sailed the Spanish Water in the happy days of yore.

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship,

We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip;

It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored,

But we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid their ships aboard.

Then the dead men fouled the scuppers and the wounded filled the chains,

And the paint-work all was spatter dashed with other peoples brains,

She was boarded, she was looted, she was scuttled till she sank.

And the pale survivors left us by the medium of the plank.

O! then it was (while standing by the taffrail on the poop)

We could hear the drowning folk lament the absent chicken coop;

Then, having washed the blood away, we'd little else to do

Than to dance a quiet hornpipe as the old salts taught us to.

O! the fiddle on the fo'c'sle, and the slapping naked soles,

And the genial "Down the middle, Jake, and curtsey when she rolls!"

With the silver seas around us and the pale moon overhead,

And the look-out not a-looking and his pipe-bowl glowing red.

Ah! the pig-tailed, quidding pirates and the pretty pranks we played,

All have since been put a stop to by the naughty Board of Trade;

The schooners and the merry crews are laid away to rest,

A little south the sunset in the islands of the Blest.

This poem can be a dedication to Robert Louis Stevenson, a famous author of a more famous novel Treasure Island (Published in 1883), where Long John Silver is the primary antagonist and who is considered to be a true example of a stereotypical pirate. The poem begins describing the life of pirates and what they did. How they lived a good life in the happy days of yore, how they had the best ships and equipment on seas (a well-conducted ship; We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass). Then it takes a surprising turn and focuses on the plunder, death and destruction which others suffered from because of the life the pirates lead. The last stanza describes how this beloved “pirating” soon came to an end because of the Board of Trade established in Privy Council of the United Kingdom, which originated as the committee of inquiry in the 17^th century and the lifestyle pirates lead was forced to end: The schooners and the merry crews are laid away to rest. What is interesting about this poem is the fact that it gives away a small hint of the narrator. It can be imagined that the story is told by an old pirate, telling stories of days long gone. That makes the poem quite clear and rather enjoyable. Another point worth mentioning is that Masefield uses traditional AABB rhymes, not quite common for a poet of the 20^th century. For the sake of comparing the themes of different poems by the author, one should categorize the poem as a tale of pirates, as a tribute to sea or of sailors

A Night At Dago Tom's

Oh yesterday, I t'ink it was, while cruisin' down the street,

I met with Bill. - 'Hullo,' he says, 'let's give the girls a treat.'

We'd red bandanas round our necks 'n' our shrouds new rattled down,

So we filled a couple of Santy Cruz and cleared for Sailor Town.

We scooted south with a press of sail till we fetched to a caboose,

The 'Sailor's Rest,' by Dago Tom, alongside 'Paddy's Goose.'

Red curtains to the windies, ay, 'n' white sand to the floor,

And an old blind fiddler liltin' the tune of 'Lowlands No More.'

He played the 'Shaking of the Sheets' 'n' the couples did advance,

Bowing, stamping, curtsying, in the shuffling of the dance;

The old floor rocked and quivered, so it struck beholders dumb,

'N' afterwards there was sweet songs 'n' good Jamaikey rum.

'N' there was many a merry yarn of many a merry spree

Aboard the ships with royals set a-sailing on the sea,

Yarns of the hooker

Spindrift

, her as had the clipper-bow,

'There ain't no ships,' says Bill to me, 'like that there hooker now.'

When the old blind fiddler played the tune of 'Pipe the Watch Below,'

The skew-eyed landlord dowsed the glim and bade us 'stamp 'n' go,'

'N' we linked it home, did Bill 'n' I, adown the scattered streets,

Until we fetched to Land o' Nod atween the linen sheets.

Again, the poem is about sailors but it is unclear if these sailors can be connected to pirating in any way. There are small hints of drinking Santy Cruz and Jamaican rum but it would not be wise to immediately connect those facts to pirating. The poem itself is quite easily understood. A man meets with his friend Bill and they decide to go to a bar (or a brothel as suggested in the second line 'let's give the girls a treat.'). The second stanza tells about where exactly the Sailor's Rest, a place owned by Dago Tom, is situated at, however it is unclear in what town the place is located at. The phrase in the first stanza stating Sailor Town might make the reader think that it might be London, for obvious reasons, but it could be any other port of the past for sailors travelled from town to town. The third stanza focuses on the happenings and event that took place in that bar. The fourth stanza, however, is a little bit complicated. The reader may understand it as: many ships were gone from the port because ships were needed by royals for trade and they were gone even with spindrift (Which is a spray from cresting waves during a gale), in a situation where no sensible sailor goes out on the sea. And Bill comments on it being amazed – The ships are all used so much and are forced into so much work, whatever the situation, like hookers. The last stanza finishes the poem nicely, stating when the musician started playing Pipe the Watch Below, the men were forced to leave the bar and they both went home to get some sleep. The poem is similar to the first one in style as well as the theme.

A Valediction

We're bound for blue water where the great winds blow,

It's time to get the tacks aboard, time for us to go;

The crowd's at the capstan and the tune's in the shout,

'A long pull, a strong pull,

and warp the hooker out

The bow-wash is eddying, spreading from the bows,

Aloft and loose the topsails and some one give a rouse;

A salt-Atlantic chanty shall be music to the dead,

'A long pull, a strong pull,

and the yard to the masthead

Shrilly squeal the running sheaves, the weather-gear strains,

Such a clatter of chain-sheets, the devil's in the chains;

Over us the bright stars, under us the drowned,

'A long pull, a strong pull,

and we're outward bound

Yonder, round and ruddy, is the mellow old moon,

The red-funnelled tug has gone, and now, sonny, soon

We'll be clear of the Channel, so watch how you steer,

'Ease her when she pitches,

and so-long, my dear

A Valediction focuses on sea as well. It does so, however, in a different context. The first stanza can be understood as an explanation for why the sailors are leaving or as an explanation for the life they lead. Since sailors are bound to the sea they feel the urge to leave after spending some time on solid ground. A point to notice here that the ship is referred to as a hooker (An explanation to the use of wording may be the fact that ships are usually referred to as women), which connects the second and this poem quite nicely. When the first stanza tells us the story of sailors leaving then the second, third and the last stanza tell us the story of what is going on on the ship while on sea, how the men struggle and what they think and do. The poem concludes with the idea of belonging and farewell. Who exactly is said good-bye to is not revealed but this is intentional since it does not really matter. The general theme can once again be compared to sea and/or sailors but the poem introduces a new idea – farewell or some sadness about leaving. The style is similar to other poems, however, there is an addition to the usual AABB rhymes as there is a fifth line mixed with the rhymes.

An Epilogue

I had 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,

And in you, I trust, too.

This poem brings nice alternation to the sea-themed poems. While the style remains the same as it was in previous poems, the theme is completely different. The poem is easily understood as it states that the narrator (Probably Masefield himself) thinks that nothing is impossible for he has seen a lot. Whatever the situation may be, there is still hope for change. What may leave the reader confused is the fact that the poem is titled An Epilogue. It can be confusing because it is not explained to what does the epilogue refer to. Since epilogue is usually used to bring closure to something, like a story or an event, it might be difficult to grasp what has been meant by it. Is the epilogue dedicated to the “end”. If yes, then what “end”? Perhaps a dedication to a friend who has passed away or just verses marking ones own end. It may very well be that it is just a few lines symbolizing hope Masefield has for someone, who is wearied and/or depressed. It is up for the reader to decide.

Beauty

I HAVE seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills

Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain:

I have seen the lady April bringing the daffodils,

Bringing the springing grass and the soft warm April rain.

I have heard the song of the blossoms and the old chant of the sea,

And seen strange lands from under the arched white sails of ships;

But the loveliest thing of beauty God ever has shown to me,

Are her voice, and her hair, and eyes, and the dear red curve of her lips.

This poem is an exemplary example of a Romantic poem. Beauty encompasses a variety of emotions expressed by the poet by the use of a variety of techniques including metaphors, similes and onomatopoeia. A different kind of rhyme pattern is used here, being ABAB CDCD instead of the usual AABB. It is a quite interesting piece since it is one of the only ones that refers back to Masefield's earlier work: The winds and daffodils from The West Wind. The theme can be once again compared to many other works by Masefield since it includes ship and sea imagery. To explain what the poem is about and do so shortly, then one can say that it is a comparison of what is beautiful in the world and the one he adores, the latter being more beautiful (In her whole being: Voice, hair, eyes and lips etc.) than anything else he has ever known. It should be noted that Masefield does an excellent job mimicking the Romantics as well as it should be taken into consideration that Beauty is one his rare love poems.

By a Bier-Side

This is a sacred city built of marvellous earth.

Life was lived nobly here to give such beauty birth.

Beauty was in this brain and in this eager hand:

Death is so blind and dumb Death does not understand.

Death drifts the brain with dust and soils the young limbs' glory,

Death makes justice a dream, and strength a traveller's story.

Death drives the lovely soul to wander under the sky.

Death opens unknown doors. It is most grand to die.

By a Bier-Side can be considered a depressing poem indeed. An aberrance compared to the themes of the other poems analyzed this far. It is not known of whom this poem speaks about but it's clear (thanks to the phrase bier-side) that the person of whom is spoken of has died. The poem speaks of how death takes away everything and is the end of everything (which is a contradiction in style when reading Masefield's other poem A Creed, where he expresses strong beliefs in reincarnation). The person spoken of was a talented mind and wanted to make something with his life as stated in the phrases Beauty was in this brain and in this eager hand. Death, however, does not comprehend that very well, for in death the brains you have do not matter, nor do the eagerness and youngness one has. Death destroys everything – Justice becomes a dream and beliefs in strength become stories. The poem can be thought to be a dedication to those who have died, whether it was someone close to Masefield when he wrote it, or not. The tone of this poem is more serious than in the other ones and makes one wonder, what was going through Masefield's mind when he wrote it. The structure, however, is, once again, comparable with the majority of his works, following a clear and simple rhyme pattern.

C.L.M.

IN the dark womb where I began

My mother's life made me a man.

Through all the months of human birth

Her beauty fed my common earth.

I cannot see, nor breathe, nor stir,

But through the death of some of her.

Down in the darkness of the grave

She cannot see the life she gave.

For all her love, she cannot tell

Whether I use it ill or well,

Nor knock at dusty doors to find

Her beauty dusty in the mind.

If the grave's gates could be undone,

She would not know her little son,

I am so grown. If we should meet

She would pass by me in the street,

Unless my soul's face let her see

My sense of what she did for me.

What have I done to keep in mind

My debt to her and womankind?

What woman's happier life repays

Her for those months of wretched days?

For all my mouthless body leeched

Ere Birth's releasing hell was reached?

What have I done, or tried, or said

In thanks to that dear woman dead?

Men triumph over women still,

Men trample women's rights at will,

And man's lust roves the world untamed.

This poem expresses love and regret in a very unusual way. It has to be said that the poem is written to his mother or at least written with his mother in mind. It starts out by explaining how mother gave him life and died and it continues to explain, how he expresses grief, for his mother can not see him grown-up and can not see how his son has lived his life. The third stanza turns to the idea that even if death could be undone and his mother would be reincarnated it would be of no use because they would not recognize each other. In the fourth stanza the whole poem takes an unusual turn for the author thinks that he is in debt to his mother and all womankind for the suffering they need to undergo when bearing the child and when in labor. He concludes the poem with more feeling of guilt for he thinks he has not repayed the favor of living to her mother and due to that to women in general. The author thinks that he is also to blame for the fact that men are considered superior to women for he has not done anything about it. In some sense the author expresses concern over the inequality of sexes. The tone of the poem is serious and style is different to other poems as well. Even if it could be considered or labeled as a love poem it can not be compared with the poem Beauty for the difference of tone is too great.

Laugh and be Merry

Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,

Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.

Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span.

Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.

Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time.

God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme,

Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of

His mirth

The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.

So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,

Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by,

Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured

In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord.

Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin,

Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn,

Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.

Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends.

Laugh and be Merry is a poem I wanted to include for its joyfulness and positivity. Again, quite easily understood, the poem urges mankind to be happy and joyful for life is too short to be sad or depressed. It also explains that everything great, like the world and the stars, were also created with joy, like explained in the second and the third stanza. If concentrating on the third stanza, however, one could see that the author does not only urge to live happily but wants people to live life of value – doing anything he or she is capable of. It can be said that the whole poem describes hardships of which people need to overcome. It all comes down to fact that people should be positive, happy, full of energy to the day they die (till the game is played). The tone of the poem differs from others as it is full of energy and positive-thinking. The style is even more simpler than the previous ones and states what it means quite clearly.

Hell's Pavement

“When I’m discharged at Liverpool ‘n’ draws my bit o’ pay,

I won’t come to sea no more;

I’ll court a pretty little lass ‘n’ have a weddin’ day,

‘N’ settle somewhere down shore;

I’ll never fare to sea again a-temptin’ Davy Jones,

A-hearkening to the cruel sharks a-hungerin’ for my bones;

I’ll run a blushin’ dairy-farm or go a-crackin’ stones,

Or buy ‘n’ keep a little liquor-store”

So he said.

They towed her in to Liverpool, we made the hooker fast,

And the copper-bound official paid the crew,

And Billy drew his money, but the money didn’t last,

For he painted the alongshore blue,

It was rum for Poll, and rum for Nan, and gin for Jolly Jack;

He shipped a week later in the clothes upon his back;

He had to pinch a little straw, he had to beg a sack

To sleep on, when his watch was through,

So he did.

The tone of the the whole poem is quite ironic. It talks about a sailor (which, as mentioned, is a theme quite common to Masefield's poetry) who speaks about settling down after he is discharged in Liverpool. As the reader might understand the reason he does so is because he is tired of the sea and all those dangers, so the sailor (Billy) thinks about getting married, running a dairy-farm or a small liquor shop. The author concludes the first stanza with a derisive comment, stating: So he said. The second stanza speaks about what really happened to Billy when he was finally discharged in Liverpool and after the ship (again referred to as “hooker”) was in port. So what really happened was that after Billy got his pay he squandered it really fast and was penniless and was on the ship once again. The author finds it important to comment on that as well with the phrase: So he did. As already mentioned the poem is quite ironic and it can be understood as a reference to people in general: How everyone makes promises and seldom keep them for things usually do not go the way one has planned them to go. When pondering over the themes Masefield was writing about then one might also come to a conclusion that the poem was written to describe the fact that you can not keep the sailor from sea. Using the examples of how Billy squandered his money one can come to a conclusion that sailors just can not handle themselves on dry land and start acting foolishly. And that is one of the reasons sailors must sail. The poem introduces a new element of style in Masefield's poetry as well for the poem sounds ironical.

Cargoes

QUINQUIREME of Nineveh from distant Ophir,

Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,

With a cargo of ivory,

And apes and peacocks,

Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,

Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,

With a cargo of diamonds,

Emeralds, amythysts,

Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,

Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,

With a cargo of Tyne coal,

Road-rails, pig-lead,

Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

Cargoes is a quite provocative poem and Masefield has done a great job writing it in the historical sense as well as humor-wise. To understand what the poem tells us, one needs to understand how it is written. The first two lines of each stanza describe a different kind of ship moving in water and the last three lines of each stanza describe the kind of cargo they are carrying. Quinquireme is a large vessel which the Phoenicians used to trade on the Mediterranean Sea and which according to the poem carried ivory, animals, wood and wine. The second stanza describes a galleon which is a large sailing ship dipping (moving up and down on waves) dipping between Latin-America and Spain. It carries precious stones, spices and gold (moidore translates to “coin of gold” and word itself is Portuguese). The third stanza describes a British ship which is not as beautiful as the previous two, nor is it as big. Coaster is a small ship powered by a steam-engine and it carries lead, firewood and iron in the English Channel even on the most stormy days. What Masefield is trying to say with the poem is a bit more complex. One explanation can be that Masefield did not really intend to have great meaning in this poem but he wanted to reflect on three very different eras in history. Another explanation could be that the author tries to describe different kingdoms and their values using the ships and cargo as an example. The cargo described in the three stanzas each correspond to the values of that time and country as well as what was the most important items of trade for them. The Phoenicians traded valuable wood, wine and exotic animals, the Spaniards traded mostly in precious diamonds and spices and coal, firewood and lead was really important to the British at that time because of the industrial capacity. The style differs from other poems once again for it uses direct historical references and may just be that it does not have any deeper or hidden meaning.

Roadways

ONE road leads to London,

One road leads to Wales,

My road leads me seawards

To the white dipping sails.

One road leads to the river,

And it goes singing slow;

My road leads to shipping,

Where the bronzed sailors go.

Leads me, lures me, calls me

To salt green tossing sea;

A road without earth's road-dust

Is the right road for me.

A wet road heaving, shining,

And wild with seagull's cries,

A mad salt sea-wind blowing

The salt spray in my eyes.

My road calls me, lures me

West, east, south, and north;

Most roads lead men homewards,

My road leads me forth.

To add more miles to the tally

Of grey miles left behind,

In quest of that one beauty

God put me here to find.

Roadways is a poem describing the choices which the people have when choosing their travels and contradicts them with the wishes of a sailor who just wishes to be on a ship and sail the seas. Stanza by stanza it tells the reader of what a sailor or a person who wishes to be on open sea wants and how the seas lure and call that very person. First and the second stanza describe how much the writer wants to be on sea, the third and the fourth one, however, describe the urge behind that wish and the whole poem is concluded by why is that so. The author describes how most people finally travel home but how he wishes to travel forth experiencing and seeing something new, to find true beauty which is his wish and a quest bestowed by god. The style is similar to the other sailing-themed poetry but the urge of traveling is depicted more than in any other ones. The rhyme pattern is unique compared to the other poems as only the second and the fourth line in each stanza rhyme.

The West Wind

IT'S a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries;

I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.

For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills.

And April's in the west wind, and daffodils.

It's a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine,

Apple orchards blossom there, and the air's like wine.

There is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest,

And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from the nest.

"Will ye not come home brother? ye have been long away,

It's April, and blossom time, and white is the may;

And bright is the sun brother, and warm is the rain,--

Will ye not come home, brother, home to us again?

"The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run.

It's blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun.

It's song to a man's soul, brother, fire to a man's brain,

To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again.

"Larks are singing in the west, brother, above the green wheat,

So will ye not come home, brother, and rest your tired feet?

I've a balm for bruised hearts, brother, sleep for aching eyes,"

Says the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries.

It's the white road westwards is the road I must tread

To the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head,

To the violets, and the warm hearts, and the thrushes' song,

In the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong.

Seemingly complicated at first The West Wind is actually pretty clear and states the obvious. It begins with the author remembering the land in the west (to be more exact then it is a possibility that land in the west is Great Britain), the land he once belonged to. He remembers because it is the beginning of April and thinks back to his younger days. In the second stanza the tone of poem becomes even more longing than it was in the first one and the narrator agrees that the land in the west is indeed a fine land, at least for people who are as tired as he is. The next three stanzas are a description of what is actually happening in London and are told by the narrator's (Masefield) brother who is urging him to finally come back from his travels, back home. The poem ends with the narrator making up his mind about returning home for he is grown wearied of his travels and thinks he needs a rest. So he takes a road westwards, back to the fine land where he belongs. The central theme of the poem is longing and the wish to be back home once again. The West Wind is a basis to many other Masefield's poetry and that is evident as well because of the AABB rhyme pattern used in this poem.

The Tarry Buccaneer

I'm going to be a pirate with a bright brass pivot-gun,

And an island in the Spanish Main beyond the setting sun,

And a silver flagon full of red wine to drink when work is done,