I Must Go Up to the Sky Again
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I must go down to the seas again, to the...
Language:English
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, 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 go 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 seagulls crying. I must go 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.
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Note: first published in Speaker (Feb. 1902)
Authorship:
- by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), "Sea-Fever", appears in Salt Water Ballads, first published 1902[author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Mark Andrews (1875 - 1939), "Sea-Fever", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Christopher Ball , "Sea fever" [voice and piano], from his oboe concerto [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Marshall H. Barnes (b. 1921), "I must go down to the seas again" [satb chorus and orchestra], from Salt Water Ballads [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Charles Griffith Bratt (1914 - 1983), "Sea-Fever" [baritone and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Flora Bullock , "Sea-Fever", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Robert Coningsby Clarke (1879 - 1934), "Sea-Fever", published 1919 [voice and piano], from Songs of a Rover [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Dawn C. Crawford (b. 1919), "Sea-Fever", 1942. [baritone and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by John Hopkins Densmore (1880 - 1943), "I must go down to the seas again", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Joseph T. Enos (b. 1911), "Sea-Fever", published <<1957. [tenor and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Richard Bruce Faith (b. 1926), "Sea-Fever" [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Elizabeth Gest , "Down to the sea", published 1927. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "Sea-Fever", published 1915. [medium voice or unison chorus and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Adams Loud (d. 1935?), "Sea-Fever", published 1924. [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Raymond Earle Mitchell (1895 - 1967), "I must go down to the seas again", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Jason Rico (b. 1978), "Sea-Fever" [voice and viola] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Tom Vernon Ritchie (b. 1922), "Sea-Fever" [voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by James Hotchkiss Rogers (1857 - 1940), "Sea-Fever", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Wallace Arthur Sabin (1869 - 1937), "Sea-Fever", published <<1929. [medium voice and piano] [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Scull , "Sea-Fever" [unison chorus and piano], note: may be a different text [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "Sea-Fever", published <<1940. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 161
Source: https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=10863&RF=1