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John Masefield

Author profile

born

June 01, 1878 in Ledbury, Herefordshire, The United Kingdom

died

May 12, 1967

gender

male

genre

Children's Books, Poetry

About this author

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Masefield was born in Ledbury, a rural area in England to George Masefield, a solicitor and Caroline. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only 6 and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board the HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his Aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield’s love for story-telling grew.

In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile. H...more Masefield was born in Ledbury, a rural area in England to George Masefield, a solicitor and Caroline. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only 6 and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board the HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his Aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield’s love for story-telling grew.

In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather. Upon reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship.

In 1895, Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York, he deserted ship. He lived as a vagrant for several months, before returning to New York City, where he was able to find work as an assistant to a bar keeper.

For the next two years, Masefield was employed in a carpet factory, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature. His interests at this time were diverse and his reading included works by Trilby, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as poetry by Keats and Shelley.

When Masefield was 23, he met his future wife, Constance Crommelin, who was 35. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a perfect match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910).

In 1930, due to the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield’s humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication.

On 12 May 1967, John Masefield died, after having suffered through a spread of gangrene up his leg. According to his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. Later, the following verse was discovered, written by Masefield, addressed to his ‘Heirs, Administrators, and Assigns’:

Let no religious rite be done or read
In any place for me when I am dead,
But burn my body into ash, and scatter
The ash in secret into running water,
Or on the windy down, and let none see;
And then thank God that there’s an end of me.

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Books by John Masefield

Average rating: 3.90 · 713 ratings · 105 reviews · 113 distinct works

	Box Of Delights 3.94 avg rating — 351 ratings — published 1935 — 19 editions	My rating:
	The Midnight Folk 3.79 avg rating — 159 ratings — published 1927 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Sea Fever: Selected Poems by John Masefield, Philip Errington (Editor), Philip W. Errington (Editor) 4.19 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2005	My rating:
	sard harker 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 1924 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Salt-Water Poems and Ballads 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1916 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Jim Davis 3.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1911 — 19 editions	My rating:
	Reynard the Fox or the Ghost Heath Run 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1929 — 16 editions	My rating:
	Sea Life in Nelson's Time 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:
	Collected Poems And Plays (Collected Works Of John Masefield 2 Volumes) 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings	My rating:
	Twenty-Five Days: The Rescue of the BEF from Dunkirk 10 May - 3 June 1940 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2005	My rating:

More books by John Masefield…

Quotes by John Masefield

“The distant soul can shake the distant friend's soul and make the longing felt, over untold miles.”
― John Masefield

tags: friendship , separation

47 people liked it

“Sea-Fever"

I must 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 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 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”
― John Masefield, Sea Fever: Selected Poems

tags: naval , tall-ship

31 people liked it

“Only the road and the dawn, the sun, the wind, and the rain,
And the watch fire under stars, and sleep, and the road again.
”
― John Masefield

tags: nature , travel

6 people liked it

See all John Masefield's quotes »

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