Wild Eyed Sailing Poets

It struck me today that for a sailing blog dedicated to “Voyagers, Zealots, Poets and Populists,” I’ve been overlooking any direct correlation to the “Poets” segment. When I wrote the tagline I wanted to capture what I felt were some of the better attributes of sailing culture – traveling to far flung anchorages (or dreaming of doing so), a fanatical dedication to sailboats, the importance of access as opposed to elitism and, through the term “poets” a sense of the wild-eyed romance of the sea. Maritime poetry gives voice to human themes that the ocean evokes - loss and longing, loneliness and death, awe at the vast power of nature, a love for the water. History and tradition also play a strong role in maritime poetry; the sea chanteys sung aboard tall ships are prime examples. A well known classic is the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge. Other poets include Michael Drayton and John Masefield (one of my favorites). Here is a link to a whole page of them for your reading pleasure. Please post with your favorites.

"A WIND'S in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels, I am tired of brick and stone and rumbling wagon-wheels; I hunger for the sea's edge, the limit of the land, Where the wild old Atlantic is shouting on the sand."

- from “A Wanderer's Song” by John Masefield