Sea Fever

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 gray 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 sea-gulls 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.

A Poet Laureate, defined as a “poet appointed as writer of Court odes” has been an honour bestowed by the United Kingdom Government on one person at a time for the past four centuries.  In the past, the position was held for life.  The only exception to this was the poet John Dryden who, in 1688, refused to swear allegiance to the then King of England, William III. 

However, in 1999, the term of Poet Laureate was switched to only ten years.  And the current Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Carol Anne Duffy, is the first woman in history to hold the position.

Other famous Poet Laureates include William Wordsworth, Lord Alfred Tennyson and Cecil Day-Lewis (father of Daniel Day-Lewis).