John Masefield

John Masefield (1878-1967) in 1930.Courtesy MasefieldNovels.Blogspot.ca.

John Masefield
Born	January 1 1878(1878-Template:MONTHNUMBER-01) Ledbury, Herefordshire, England
Died	December 12 1967(1967-Template:MONTHNUMBER-12) (aged 88) Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England
Occupation	poet
Nationality	English
Period	1902-1967
Genres	poetry, children's novels

John Edward Masefield OM (1 June 1878 - 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, who served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. His many memorable poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever".

Life

Youth

Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to Caroline and George Masefield, a solicitor. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only six, and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after following a mental breakdown.

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. While on the ship, he listened to the stories told about sea lore. He continued to read, and felt that he was to become a writer and story teller himself.

In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile - this first voyage bringing him the experience of sea sickness. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather, his journal entries reflecting a delight in seeing flying fish, porpoises, and birds, and was awed by the beauty of nature, including a rare sighting of a nocturnal rainbow on his voyage. On 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, he did many odd jobs, before finding full-time work as a bar keeper's assistant.

Sometime around Christmas in 1895, Masefield read the December 1895 edition of Truth, a New York periodical then being edited by Canadian poet Peter McArthur, which contained the poem "The Piper of Arll" by Duncan Campbell Scott. 10 years later, Masefield wrote to Scott to tell him what reading that poem had meant to him: "I had never (till that time) cared very much for poetry, but your poem impressed me deeply, and set me on fire. Since then poetry has been the one deep influence in my life, and to my love of poetry I owe all my friends, and the position I now hold."

For the next 2 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 George du Maurier, 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. He eventually returned home to England in 1897 as a passenger aboard a steam ship. 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 match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910).

By 24, Masefield’s poems were being published in periodicals and his first collected works, Salt-Water Ballads (1902) was published, the poem "Sea-Fever" appearing in this book. Masefield then wrote the novels, Captain Margaret (1908) and Multitude and Solitude (1909). In 1911, after a long drought of poem writing, he composed "The Everlasting Mercy", the first of his narrative poems, and within the next year, Masefield had produced two more, "The Widow in the Bye Street" and "Dauber". As a result, Masefield became widely known to the public and was praised by critics, and in 1912, he was awarded the annual Edmund de Polignac prize.

World War I and 1920s

File:John Masefield.jpg

Masefield in 1915

When World War I began, though old enough to be exempted from military service, Masefield joined the staff of a British hospital for French soldiers, Hopital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois, Haute-Marne, France, serving briefly in 1915 as a hospital orderly, later publishing his own account of his experiences.

After returning home, Masefield was invited to the United States on a 3-month lecture tour. Although Masefield's primary purpose was to lecture on English Literature, a secondary purpose was to collect information on the mood and views of Americans regarding the war in Europe. When he returned to England, he submitted a report to the British Foreign Office, and suggested that he be allowed to write a book about the failure of the allied efforts in the Dardanelles, which possibly could be used in the U.S. in order to counter what he thought was German propaganda there. As a result, Masefield wrote Gallipoli. This work was a success, encouraging the British people, and lifting them somewhat from the disappointment they had felt as a result of the Allied losses in the Dardanelles. Due to the success of his wartime writings, Masefield met with the head of British Military Intelligence in France and was asked to write an account of the Battle of the Somme. Although Masefield had grand ideas for his book, he was denied access to the official records, and therefore, what was to be his preface to the book was published as "The Old Front Line", a description of the geography of the Somme area.

In 1918, Masefield returned to America on a 2nd lecture tour. He spent much of his time speaking and lecturing to American soldiers waiting to be sent to Europe. These speaking engagements were very successful, and on an occasion, a battalion of all black soldiers danced and sang for him after his talk. During this tour, he matured as a public speaker and realized his ability to touch the emotions of his audience with his style of speaking, learning to speak publicly with his own heart, rather than from dry scripted speeches.

Masefield entered the 1920s as an accomplished and respected writer. His family was able to settle in a somewhat rural setting, not far from Oxford, and Masefield took up beekeeping, goat-herding and poultry-keeping. He continued to meet with success, the 1923 edition of "Collected Poems" selling approximately 80,000 copies. He produced 3 poems early in this decade: Reynard The Fox, a poem that has been critically compared with works of Geoffrey Chaucer; followed by Right Royal and King Cole, poems where the relationship of humanity and nature was emphasized. While Reynard is the best known of these, all met with acclaim.

In 1923 Masefield organized the Oxford Recitations, an annual contest whose purpose was "to discover good speakers of verse and to encourage ‘the beautiful speaking of poetry." The Recitations were seen as a success given the numbers of contest applicants, the promotion of natural speech in poetical recitations, and the number of people learning how to listen to poetry. Masefield began to question however, whether the Recitations should continue as a contest, believing that the event should become more of a festival. In 1929, Masefield broke with the contest concept, and the Recitations came to an end.

Masefield wrote a large number of dramatic pieces during this time. Most of his dramas were based on Christian themes, and in 1928, his The Coming of Christ was the first play to be performed in an English Cathedral since the Middle Ages.

Poet Laureate

In 1930, on the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. Many felt that Rudyard Kipling was a likely choice, however, upon the recommendation of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. The only person to remain in the office for a longer period was Tennyson.

In 1932, Masefield was commissioned to write a poem to be set to music by the Master of the King's Musick, Sir Edward Elgar and performed by choir and orchestra at the unveiling of the Queen Alexandra Memorial by the King on 8 June 1932. For this he wrote this the ode "So many true Princesses who have gone".

Although the requirements of Poet Laureate had changed, and those in the office were rarely required to write verse for special occasions, 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.

After his appointment, Masefield received the Order of Merit by King George V and many honorary degrees from British universities, in 1937 being elected as President of the Society of Authors. Masefield encouraged the continued development of English literature and poetry, and began the annual awarding of the Royal Medals for Poetry for a first or second published edition of poetry by a poet under the age of 35. Additionally, his speaking engagements were calling him further away, often on much longer tours, yet he still produced significant amounts of work.

It was not until about the age of 70, that Masefield slowed his pace due to illness. In 1960, Constance died at 93, after long illness. Although her death was heartrending, he had spent a tiring year watching the woman he loved die. He continued his duties as Poet Laureate; In Glad Thanksgiving, his last book, was published when he was 88 years old.

In late 1966, Masefield developed gangrene in his ankle, which spread to his leg, dying of the infection on 12 May 1967. 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.

Recognition

During Masefield's 1918 tour of the United States, both Harvard and Yale universities conferred honorary Doctorates of Letters on him. In 1921, he received an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Oxford University.

Masefield succeeded Robert Bridges as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1930, and served until his death in 1967.

He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1935.

Masefield's ashes were buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, on 20 June 1967.

The Masefield Centre at Warwick School, which Masefield attended, and a high school in Ledbury, Herefordshire have been named in his honour.

In 1977, Folkways Records released an album of his poetry, including some read by Masefield himself.

Publications

Poetry

• Salt-Water Ballads. London: Grant Richards, 1902.
• Ballads. London: Elkin Mathews, 1903.
• Ballads and Poems. London : Elkin Mathews, 1910.
• The Everlasting Mercy / The Widow in the Bye Street. New York: Macmillan, 1912.
• The Daffodil Fields. New York: Macmillan, 1913.
• The Story of a Round House, and other poems. New York: Macmillan, 1913.
• Dauber: A poem. London: Heinemann, 1913.
• Philip the King, and other poems. New York: Macmillan, 1914.
• Salt-Water Poems and Ballads. New York: Macmillan, 1916.
• Good Friday, and other poems. New York: Macmillan, 1916.
• Sonnets and Poems. Lollington, Berkshire, UK: privately printed, 1916.
• Poems by John Masefield. New York: Macmillan, 1916.
• Lollingdon Downs, and other poems with sonnets. London: Heinemann, 1917.
• St. George and the Dragon. London: W. Heinemann 1919.
• Reynard the Fox. New York: Macmillan, 1920.
• Enslaved and other poems. New York: Macmillan, 1920.
• King Cole, and other poems. New York: Macmillan, 1921.
• Selected Poems. London: Heinemann, 1922.
• The Dream (illustrated by Judith Masefield). London: Heinemann, 1922.
• A King's Daughter: A tragedy in verse. New York: Macmillan, 1923.
• The Dream, and other poems (illustrated by Judith Masefield). New York: Macmillan, 1923.
• The Collected Poems. London: Heinemann, 1923.
• Poems. New York: Macmillan, 1929.
• Midsummer Night, and other tales in verse. New York: Macmillan, 1928.
• Poetry. New York: Macmillan, 1932.
• Poems of John Masefield. New York: Macmillan, 1934.
• A Letter from Pontus, and other verse. New York: Macmillan, 1936.
• The Country Scene in Poems. London, Collins, 1937.
• Some Verses to Some Germans. London & Toronto: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1939.
• Reynard the Fox: A tale in verse; with selected sonnets and lyrics. London: Heinemann, 1946.
• Old Raiger, and other verses. London: Heinemann / New York: Macmillan, 1964.
• The Bluebells, and other verses. London: Heinemann / New York: Macmillan, 1981.
• Selected Poems (edited by John Betjeman). London: Heinemann, 1978.
• Sea-Fever: Selected poems (edited by Philip W. Errington). Manchester, UK: Fyfield / Carcanet, 2005.

Plays

• The Tragedy of Nan, and other plays. London : Grant. Richards, 1909.
• The Tragedy of Pompey the Great. New York: Macmillan, 1914.
• The Faithful: A tragedy in three acts. New York, Macmillan, 1915.
• Good Friday: A play in verse. London: W. Heinemann, 1917
  • published in U.S. as Good Friday: A dramatic poem. New York: Macmillan, 1915.
• The Locked Chest and The Sweeps of Ninety-eight: two one-act plays. New York: Macmillan, 1917.
• Esther and Berenice: Two plays. New York: Macmillan, 1922.
• The Trial of Jesus. New York: Macmillan, 1925.
• Prose Plays. New York: Macmillan, 1925.
• Verse Plays. New York: Macmillan, 1925.
• Tristan and Isolte. London: W. Heinemann, 1927.
• The Coming of Christ. New York: Macmillan, 1928.

Novels

• A Mainsail Haul. London: Elkin Mathews, 1905.
• A Tarpaulin Muster. London: Grant Richards, 1907.
• Captain Margaret: a romance. London: Grant Richards, 1908.
• and Solitude. London: Grant Richards, 1909.
• Martin Hyde: The Duke’s Messenger (1910)
• Lost Endeavour. London & New York: Nelson, 1910.
• The Street of Today. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1911.
• Jim Davis. Wells Gardner, 1911.
• Right Royal. New York: Macmillan, 1920.
• The Dream (MacMillan, 1922) Illustrated by Judith Masefield.
• Sard Harker. London: Heinemann, 1924.
• Recent Prose. London, Heinemann, 1924.
• ODTAA. New York: Macmillan, 1926.
• The Midnight Folk. London: Heinemann, 1927; New York: Macmillan, 1927.
• The Hawbucks. New York: Macmillan, 1929.
• The Wanderer of Liverpool. New York: Macmillan, 1930.
• Minnie Maylow's Story and other tales and scenes. New York: Macmillan, 1931.
• A Tale of Troy. New York: Macmillan, 1932.
• The Bird of Dawning; or the Fortune of the sea. London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1933.
• The Taking of the Gry. New York: Macmillan, 1934.
• The Box of Delights; or, When the Wolves Were Running. London & Toronto: Heinemann, 1935.
• Victorious Troy: or The Harrying Angel. New York: Macmillan, 1935.
• Eggs and Baker; or, The Days of Trial. New York: Macmillan, 1936.
• The Square Peg; or, The Gun Fella. New York: Macmillan, 1937.
• Dead Ned. New York: Macmillan, 1938.
• Live and Kicking Ned. New York: Macmillan, 1939.
• Basilissa: A Tale of the Empress Theodora. New York: Macmillan, 1940.
• Conquer: A Tale of the Nika Rebellion in Byzantium. New York: Macmillan, 1941.
• Badon Parchments. London: Heinemann, 1947.

Non-fiction

• Sea Life in Nelson's Time. London: Methuen, 1905.
• On the Spanish Main. London: Methuen, 1906.
• William Shakespeare. New York: Holt, 1911.
• Gallipoli. New York: Macmillan, 1916.
• The Old Front Line. New York: Macmillan, 1917.
• Shakespeare and Spiritual Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
• Chaucer. New York: Macmillan, 1931.
• The Conway: From her foundation to the present day. London: Heinemann, 1933; New York: Macmillan, 1933.
• So Long to Learn: Chapters from an autobiography. London: Heinemann / New York: Macmillan, 1952.
• Grace Before Ploughing. London: Heinemann, 1966.

Collected editions

• The Poems and Plays of John Masefield. New York, Macmillan, 1918.

Edited

• Lyrists of the Restoration: From Sir Edward Sherburne to William Congreve (edited with Constance Masefield). 1905.
• A Sailor's Garland. New York: Macmillan 1906.

"Cargoes" by John Masefield (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Poems by John Masefield

1. Sea-Fever

See also

• List of British poets

Preceded by Robert Bridges

Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1930-1967

Succeeded by Cecil Day-Lewis

"On Growing Old" by John Masefield (read by Tom O'Bedlam)

References

• Constance Babington Smith, John Masefield: A life. Oxford University Press, 1978.
• Muriel Spark, John Masefield. 1953.
• Alison Lurie, "John Masefield's Boxes of Delight," in Boys and Girls Together. Penguin Books, 2003.

Fonds

• John Masefield Collection at Bryn Mawr College
• Papers of John Masefield at University of Hull

External links

Poems

• "Sea-Fever"
• John Masefield in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse: "The Ballad of Sir Bors," "The Seekers," from "The Everlasting Mercy"
• John Maselfield in The New Poetry: An anthology: "Ships," "Cargoes," "Watching by a Sick-Bed," "What Am I, Life?"
• Masefield, John (1878-1967) (16 poems) at Representative Poetry Online
• John Masefield at Poets' Corner (16 poems)
• John Masefield 1878–1967 at the Poetry Foundation
• John Masefield at PoemHunter (46 poems)

Books

• Works by John Masefield at Project Gutenberg

About

• John Masefield in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• John Masefield at NNDB.
• John Masefield by Conor O'Callaghan
• John Masefield: The early novels, 1908-11
• Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery