Sea Fever

I love the ocean, and I can't wait to get back to it. I frequently dream I am on an island - although that could just mean I need to get up to the bathroom - hard to say at my age. I'm not sure about the last two lines of the Millay poem. Loving the ocean is one thing - screaming to drown is a whole other thing. But I do think the Millay poem has more impact than the Masefield.

He said—

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 gray 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.

John Masefield

She said—

Inland

People that build their houses inland,
People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
Tons of water striking the shore,─
What do they long for, as I long for
One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
Spanking the boats at the harbor’s head,─
What do they long for, as I long for
Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
Neither a window, nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,─
One salt taste of the sea once more?

Edna St Vincent Millay