John Masefield

John Masefield (1878–1967) was an English poet and novelist, known for the prominence of seafaring themes in his work. (He went to sea as a boy, but gave it up before he was twenty; according to one account because he was ironically a martyr to seasickness.) Poet Laureate from 1930 to 1967.

His best-known poem is indubitably "Sea-Fever", which begins:

"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"

As a novelist, he is probably best-known for his children's fantasy novels, The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights. The Box of Delights was adapted into a six-part TV miniseries.


 * All Just a Dream: One of his best-known novels ends this way.
 * Flying Broomstick: Used by the witches in The Midnight Folk
 * The Highwayman: There's one in the backstory of The Midnight Folk
 * Latin Land: Santa Barbara, briefly mentioned in The Midnight Folk, and shown in more detail in his adult novels Sard Harker, ODTAA, and The Taking of the Gry.
 * Living Toys: In The Midnight Folk
 * Pirates: The subject of several of his poems
 * Public Domain Character: King Arthur and his court make a cameo appearance in The Midnight Folk
 * Talking Animal: In The Midnight Folk
 * Tomboy: Maria in The Box of Delights
 * Two Aliases, One Character: In The Midnight Folk,.
 * Walk the Plank: In "A Ballad of John Silver"
 * The Wild Hunt