Sea Fever is the famous poem by John Masefield set to music by Andy Taylor. I learned it from Ed Trickett and Harry Tuft who recorded it in the early 1970s.

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and 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 a-shaking,
A grey mist on the sea's face, a grey dawn a-breaking.

I must go down to the sea 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 a-flying,
The flung spray and the blown spume, the sea-gulls a-crying.

I must down to the sea 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 is over.

© Golden Hind Music