Texts by J. Masefield set in Art Songs and Choral Works

§ Author §

John Masefield (1878 - 1967)

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Texts set in art song or choral works (not necessarily comprehensive):

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Special notes: All titles and first lines are included in this index, including those used by composers.
Titles used by the text author appear in boldface. First lines appear in italics.
A language code in a blue rectangle like ENG indicates that a translation to that language is available.
A grey rectangle like FRE indicates a particular translation (usually one set to music) exists but isn't yet available.

A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent (Now, Bill, ain't it prime to be a-sailin') (from Salt Water Ballads) - H. Löhr
A Christmas carol (A wind is rustling "south and soft,") (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Davidson
A Cry to Music (Speak to us, Music, for the discord jars) (from Poems)
A land of shadows (Silent are the woods, and the dim green boughs are) (from Salt Water Ballads) - R. Redman
A Last Prayer (When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted) (from Salt Water Ballads)
All the merry kettle-drums are thudding into rhyme (from Salt Water Ballads) - H. Gardiner, V. Hickey, S. Lewis, P. Turnbull (Cavalier)
All the sheets are clacking, all the blocks are whining (from Ballads and Poems) - V. Hickey (Third Mate)
An’ Bill can have my sea-boots, Nigger Jim can have my knife - P. Corder
And he came by her cabin to the west of the road, calling (from A Mainsail Haul) - R. Clarke (The Seal Man)
A night at Dago Tom's (Oh yesterday, I t'ink it was, while cruisin' down the street) (from Salt Water Ballads) - S. Lewis
An old song re-sung (I saw a ship a-sailing, a-sailing, a-sailing) (from Ballads and Poems) - T. Dobson, H. Gardiner, C. Griffes, F. Martin
A pier-head chorus (Oh I'll be chewing salted horse and biting flinty bread) (from Salt Water Ballads)
A prayer for king and country (O God, whose mercy led us through) - W. Davies
A sailor's prayer (When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Keel
August 1914 (How still this quiet cornfield is to-night!) (from Philip the King, and Other Poems)
August (How still this quiet cornfield is to-night!) (from Philip the King, and Other Poems) - R. Still
A valediction (We're bound for blue water where the great winds blow) (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes
A wanderer's song (A wind's in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels) (from Salt Water Ballads) - T. Hewitt-Jones, J. Keel, O. Rasbach
A wind is brushing down the clover - I. Venables
A wind is rustling "south and soft," (from Salt Water Ballads) - F. Ayres, R. Cundick, M. Davidson (Christmas Eve at Sea)
A wind's in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels (from Salt Water Ballads) - T. Hewitt-Jones, J. Keel, O. Rasbach (A wind's in the heart of me)
A wind's in the heart of me (A wind's in the heart of me, a fire's in my heels) (from Salt Water Ballads)
Beauty (I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills) (from Ballads and Poems) - E. Barratt, E. Bartley, C. Cope, M. Davidson, N. Gilbert, R. Hageman, M. Herbert, S. Lewis, H. Löhr, F. Martin, B. Posaminick
Be good to me, o Lord (When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted) (from Salt Water Ballads) - G. Gibbs
British Eighth March (When the cruel war is done) - Z. Elliott [x]
By a Bier-Side (This is a sacred city, built of marvellous earth) (from The Tragedy of Pompey the Great) - C. Gibbs, I. Gurney
Cape Horn Gospel (I was in a hooker once," said Karlssen) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Boyd, J. Keel, S. Lewis
Captain Stratton's Fancy (Oh, some are fond of red wine and some are fond of white) (from Ballads and Poems) - G. Bachlund, I. Gurney, J. Raynor, D. Taylor, P. Warlock
Captain Stratton’s Fancy (Oh, some are fond of Spanish wine and some are fond of French) (from Ballads and Poems) - P. Corder
Cargoes (Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir) (from Ballads and Poems) - S. Burkinshaw, R. Clarke, T. Dobson, W. Grant, S. Lewis, F. Martin, M. Shaw, P. Tomblings
Cavalier (All the merry kettle-drums are thudding into rhyme) (from Salt Water Ballads) - H. Gardiner, V. Hickey, S. Lewis, P. Turnbull
Choral: Laugh and be merry (Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song) (from Ballads) - J. Holbrooke
Christmas, 1903 (O, the sea breeze will be steady, and the tall ship's going trim)
Christmas Eve at Sea (A wind is rustling "south and soft,") (from Salt Water Ballads) - F. Ayres, R. Cundick
Dartmouth concerto (Once in a hundred years the Lemmings come) (from Enslaved and Other Poems) - Z. Durkó
D'Avalos Prayer (When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Raynor
Down Bye Street, in a little Shropshire town (from The Widow in the Bye Street) - S. Homer
Down Bye Street (Down Bye Street, in a little Shropshire town) (from The Widow in the Bye Street) - S. Homer
Down to the sea (I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky) (from Salt Water Ballads) - E. Gest
Dunno a heap about the what an' why (from Salt Water Ballads) - R. Clarke, J. Ireland (Vagabond)
Friends and loves we have none, nor wealth nor blessed abode (from Ballads) - G. Dyson, G. Slater (The seekers)
From '41 to '51 (The Everlasting Mercy) - S. Homer
from 'August 1914' (How still this quiet cornfield is to-night!) (from Philip the King, and Other Poems) - G. Finzi
Going by Daly's shanty I heard the boys within (from Ballads) - R. Boughton, P. Corder, H. Fothergill, L. Russell, F. Scott, B. Smith (The emigrant)
Going westward (Going by Daly's shanty I heard the boys within) (from Ballads) - F. Scott
Gyászének () - Z. Kodály [x]
Hell's pavement (When I'm discharged at Liverpool an' draws my bit o' pay) - P. Corder
Hell's pavement (When I'm discharged at Liverpool 'n' draws my bit o' pay) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Keel
Here the legion halted, here the ranks were broken (from Lollingdon Downs and Other Poems) - I. Gurney
How still this quiet cornfield is to-night! (from Philip the King, and Other Poems) - G. Finzi, R. Still (August 1914)
I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills (from Ballads and Poems) - E. Barratt, E. Bartley, C. Cope, M. Davidson, N. Gilbert, R. Hageman, M. Herbert, A. Kramer, S. Lewis, H. Löhr, F. Martin, B. Posaminick, E. Warren (Beauty)
I have seen dawn (I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills) (from Ballads and Poems) - A. Kramer, E. Warren
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Andrews, C. Ball, M. Barnes, C. Bratt, F. Bullock, R. Clarke, D. Crawford, J. Densmore, J. Enos, R. Faith, E. Gest, J. Ireland, J. Loud, R. Mitchell, J. Rico, T. Ritchie, J. Rogers, W. Sabin, Scull, B. Treharne (Sea-Fever)
I must go down to the seas again (I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky) (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes, J. Densmore, R. Mitchell
In the harbour, in the island, in the Spanish seas (from Salt Water Ballads) SPA - J. Keel, S. Lewis, H. Procter-Gregg, J. Raynor, T. Ritchie (Trade Winds)
Invocation to Music (Speak to us, Music, for the discord jars) (from Poems) - D. Diamond
I saw a ship a-sailing, a-sailing, a-sailing (from Ballads and Poems) - T. Dobson, H. Gardiner, R. Greaves, C. Griffes, F. Martin, R. Pennicuick (An old song re-sung)
I saw a ship a-sailing (I saw a ship a-sailing, a-sailing, a-sailing) (from Ballads and Poems) - R. Pennicuick
I saw a star tonight () - C. Fordham [x]
It is good to be out on the road, and going one knows not where (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Brown, B. Burrows, C. Hand, M. Head, M. Herbert, E. Thiman, S. Wilson (Tewkesbury Road)
It's a sunny pleasant anchorage is Kingdom Come (from Salt Water Ballads) (Port of many ships) -
It's a sunny pleasant anchorage, is Kingdom Come - J. Keel
It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries (from Salt Water Ballads) - C. Alison-Crompton, W. Cooper, R. Cundick, R. Mitchell, H. Procter-Gregg, R. Redman, C. Rootham, D. Stewart (The west wind)
It's pleasant in Holy Mary (from Ballads) - J. Ireland, F. Jackson, F. Martin, J. Raynor, H. Roberton, H. Sykes (St. Mary's Bells)
I was in a hooker once," said Karlssen (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Boyd, J. Keel, S. Lewis (Cape Horn Gospel)
I will go look for Death, for Death is everywhere (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts) HUN - R. Greaves, Z. Kodály
I will go look for death (I will go look for Death, for Death is everywhere) (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts) - R. Greaves, Z. Kodály HUN
June twilight (The twilight comes) (from Ballads and Poems) - R. Agnew, R. Clarke, F. Martin, J. Raynor, P. Wishart
Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song (from Ballads) - R. Boughton, T. Griffiths, J. Holbrooke, J. Raynor, I. Venables (Laugh and be merry)
Laugh and be merry (Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song) (from Ballads) - R. Boughton, T. Griffiths, J. Raynor
Lauugh and be merry (Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song) (from Ballads) - I. Venables
Let that which is to come be as it may (from Good Friday and Other Poems) - S. Pimsleur
Let that which is to come (Let that which is to come be as it may) (from Good Friday and Other Poems) - S. Pimsleur
London Town (Oh London Town's a fine town, and London sights are rare) (from Ballads and Poems) - C. Ashbee, J. Ashbee, R. Clarke, E. German, M. Shaw
Man is a sacred city, built of marvellous earth (from The Tragedy of Pompey the Great) - W. Whittaker
Mother Carey? She's the mother o' the witches (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes, J. Keel (Mother Carey)
Mother Carey (Mother Carey? She's the mother o' the witches) (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes, J. Keel
Music 1939-40 (Speak to us, Music, for the discord jars) (from Poems)
My friend, my bonny friend, when we are old - J. Raynor (The Word)
News from Whydah (Oh did you come by Whydah Roads) (from Ballads) - H. Gardiner [x]
Noon erthely paleys wrouhte in so statly wyse - S. Homer (The Everlasting Mercy)
Now, Bill, ain't it prime to be a-sailing' (from Salt Water Ballads) (A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent) - H. Löhr
Now, Bill, ain't it prime to be a-sailin' (from Salt Water Ballads) - H. Löhr (A Ballad of Cape St. Vincent)
Ode to the Red Army (Though flanks were turned and center gone/ You stood for home and struggled on) [x]
O God, whose mercy led us through - W. Davies (A Prayer for King and Country)
Oh did you come by Whydah Roads (from Ballads) [x] - H. Gardiner (News from Whydah)
Oh I'll be chewing salted horse and biting flinty bread (from Salt Water Ballads) - T. Wood (A pier-head chorus)
Oh London Town's a fine town, and London sights are rare (from Ballads and Poems) - C. Ashbee, J. Ashbee, R. Clarke, E. German, M. Shaw (London Town)
Oh, some are fond of red wine and some are fond of white (from Ballads and Poems) - G. Bachlund, E. Bristol, I. Gurney, J. Raynor, D. Taylor, P. Warlock (Captain Stratton's Fancy)
Oh, some are fond of Spanish wine and some are fond of French (from Ballads and Poems) - P. Corder (Captain Stratton's Fancy)
Oh yesterday, I t'ink it was, while cruisin' down the street (from Salt Water Ballads) - S. Lewis (A night at Dago Tom's)
Oh yesterday the cutting edge drank thirstily and deep (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Keel, J. Raynor (To-Morrow)
Once in a hundred years the Lemmings come (from Enslaved and Other Poems) - Z. Durkó, J. Raynor (The Lemmings)
Once, very long ago (Once, very long ago) (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts) - R. Greaves
Once, very long ago (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts) - R. Greaves
On Eastnor Knoll (Silent are the woods, and the dim green boughs are) (from Salt Water Ballads) - I. Gurney, J. Keel, J. Raynor, I. Venables, B. Vercoe
One road leads to London (from Ballads and Poems) - J. Densmore, D. Edeson, H. Finch, H. Gardiner, V. Hickey, G. Holst, S. Lewis, H. Löhr, M. Mulliner, W. Pasfield, E. Rose, L. Thorp (Roadways)
On Malvern Hill (A wind is brushing down the clover) - I. Venables
On the downs (Up on the downs the red-eyed kestrels hover) - I. Gurney
O, the sea breeze will be steady, and the tall ship's going trim - J. Raynor (Christmas, 1903)
Out beyond the sunset, could I but find the way (from Salt Water Ballads) - R. Clarke, I. Copley, J. Raynor, T. Wood (The Golden City of St. Mary)
Pier head chorus (Oh I'll be chewing salted horse and biting flinty bread) (from Salt Water Ballads) - T. Wood
Port of Holy Peter (The blue laguna rocks and quivers) (from Ballads and Poems) - T. Hewitt-Jones
Port of many ships (It's a sunny pleasant anchorage, is Kingdom Come) - J. Keel
Port of many ships (It's a sunny pleasant anchorage is Kingdom Come) (from Salt Water Ballads)
Queen Alexandra's Memorial Ode (So many true princesses who have gone) - E. Elgar
Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir (from Ballads and Poems) - S. Burkinshaw, R. Clarke, T. Dobson, W. Grant, S. Lewis, F. Martin, M. Shaw, P. Tomblings (Cargoes)
Rest her soul, she's dead (She has done with the sea's sorrow and all the world's way) (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes
Roadways (One road leads to London) (from Ballads and Poems) - J. Densmore, D. Edeson, H. Finch, H. Gardiner, V. Hickey, G. Holst, S. Lewis, H. Löhr, M. Mulliner, W. Pasfield, E. Rose, L. Thorp
Salcombe (O, the sea breeze will be steady, and the tall ship's going trim) - J. Raynor
Sea-Fever (I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky) (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Andrews, C. Ball, C. Bratt, F. Bullock, R. Clarke, D. Crawford, J. Enos, R. Faith, J. Ireland, J. Loud, J. Rico, T. Ritchie, J. Rogers, W. Sabin, Scull, B. Treharne
She has done with the sea's sorrow and all the world's way (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes (Rest her soul, she's dead)
Silent are the woods, and the dim green boughs are (from Salt Water Ballads) - I. Gurney, J. Keel, J. Raynor, R. Redman, I. Venables, B. Vercoe (On Eastnor Knoll)
So beautiful, so dainty-sweet (from Ballads) - A. Shepherd, F. Swain (The gentle lady)
So many true princesses who have gone - E. Elgar (So many true Princesses who have gone)
Song of Ronin (We lay on the reeds) (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts) - R. Greaves
Song of the Fifth Ronin (We lay on the reeds) (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts)
Sorrow of Mydath (Weary the cry of the wind is, weary the sea) - J. Raynor
Sorrow o' Mydath (Weary the cry of the wind is, weary the sea) (from Salt Water Ballads) - C. Alison-Crompton, M. Davidson, C. Griffes, P. Miles, R. Ward
Speak to us, Music, for the discord jars (from Poems) - D. Diamond (A Cry to Music)
Speak to us, Music, for the discord jars (from Poems) (Music 1939-40) - D. Diamond
Staggering over the running combers (from Salt Water Ballads) - L. Walters (The Galley-Rowers)
St. Mary's Bells (It's pleasant in Holy Mary) (from Ballads) - F. Jackson, F. Martin, J. Raynor, H. Roberton, H. Sykes
Tewkesbury Road (It is good to be out on the road, and going one knows not where) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Brown, B. Burrows, C. Hand, M. Head, M. Herbert, E. Thiman, S. Wilson
The Ballad Of Sir Bors (Would I could win some quiet and rest, and a little ease) - J. Raynor
The bells of San Marie (It's pleasant in Holy Mary) (from Ballads) - J. Ireland
The blue laguna rocks and quivers (from Ballads and Poems) - T. Hewitt-Jones (Port of Holy Peter)
The chief centurion (Man is a sacred city, built of marvellous earth) (from The Tragedy of Pompey the Great) - W. Whittaker
The emigrant (Going by Daly's shanty I heard the boys within) (from Ballads) - R. Boughton, P. Corder, H. Fothergill, L. Russell, B. Smith
The Everlasting Mercy (Noon erthely paleys wrouhte in so statly wyse) - S. Homer
The Galley-Rowers (Staggering over the running combers) (from Salt Water Ballads) - L. Walters
The gentle lady (So beautiful, so dainty-sweet) (from Ballads) - A. Shepherd, F. Swain
The Golden City of St. Mary (Out beyond the sunset, could I but find the way) (from Salt Water Ballads) - R. Clarke, I. Copley, J. Raynor, T. Wood
The halt of the legion (Here the legion halted, here the ranks were broken) (from Lollingdon Downs and Other Poems) - I. Gurney
The Lemmings (Once in a hundred years the Lemmings come) (from Enslaved and Other Poems) - J. Raynor
The New Bedford Whaler (There was a 'Bedford Whaler put out to hunt for oil) (from Salt-Water Poems and Ballads) - T. Ritchie
Theodore, or The Pirate King (They sacked the ships of London town) - G. Berners
Theodore (They sacked the ships of London town)
The old, bold mate (Oh, some are fond of red wine and some are fond of white) (from Ballads and Poems) - E. Bristol
There’s a sea-way somewhere where all day long (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Raynor
There's A Sea-Way (There’s a sea-way somewhere where all day long) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Raynor
There was a 'Bedford Whaler put out to hunt for oil (from Salt-Water Poems and Ballads) - T. Ritchie (The New Bedford Whaler)
The Seal Man (And he came by her cabin to the west of the road, calling) (from A Mainsail Haul) - R. Clarke
The seekers (Friends and loves we have none, nor wealth nor blessed abode) (from Ballads) - G. Dyson, G. Slater
The turn of the tide (An’ Bill can have my sea-boots, Nigger Jim can have my knife) - P. Corder
The twilight comes (from Ballads and Poems) - R. Agnew, R. Clarke, F. Martin, J. Raynor, P. Wishart (June twilight)
The Wayfarer () - F. Allitsen [x]
The west wind (It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries) (from Salt Water Ballads) - C. Alison-Crompton, W. Cooper, R. Cundick, H. Procter-Gregg, R. Redman, C. Rootham, D. Stewart
The white road westward (It's a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries) (from Salt Water Ballads) - R. Mitchell
The Widow's Prayer () (from The Widow in the Bye Street) - S. Homer [x]
The Widow's Song () (from The Widow in the Bye Street) - S. Homer [x]
The wild duck (Twilight. Red in the West) (from Ballads and Poems) - C. Forsyth
The Word (My friend, my bonny friend, when we are old) - J. Raynor
They sacked the ships of London town - G. Berners (Theodore)
Third Mate (All the sheets are clacking, all the blocks are whining) (from Ballads and Poems) - V. Hickey
This is a sacred city, built of marvellous earth (from The Tragedy of Pompey the Great) - C. Gibbs, I. Gurney
Though flanks were turned and center gone/ You stood for home and struggled on [x] - A. Bax (Ode to the Red Army)
To-Morrow (Oh yesterday the cutting edge drank thirstily and deep) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Keel, J. Raynor
To Russia (Though flanks were turned and center gone/ You stood for home and struggled on) - A. Bax [x]
Trade Winds (In the harbour, in the island, in the Spanish seas) (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Keel, S. Lewis, H. Procter-Gregg, J. Raynor, T. Ritchie SPA
Twilight it is, and the far woods are dim, and the rooks cry and call (from Ballads and Poems) - C. Alison-Crompton, P. Crossley-Holland, T. Dobson, J. Keel, A. Marples, E. Moeran, D. Moule-Evans, J. Raynor (Twilight)
Twilight it is (Twilight it is, and the far woods are dim, and the rooks cry and call) (from Ballads and Poems) - P. Crossley-Holland
Twilight. Red in the West (from Ballads and Poems) - C. Forsyth (The wild duck)
Twilight (Twilight it is, and the far woods are dim, and the rooks cry and call) (from Ballads and Poems) - C. Alison-Crompton, T. Dobson, J. Keel, A. Marples, E. Moeran, D. Moule-Evans, J. Raynor
Up on the downs the red-eyed kestrels hover - I. Gurney
Vagabond (Dunno a heap about the what an' why) (from Salt Water Ballads) - R. Clarke, J. Ireland
Weary the cry of the wind is, weary the sea - J. Raynor (Sorrow of Mydath)
Weary the cry of the wind is, weary the sea (from Salt Water Ballads) - C. Alison-Crompton, M. Davidson, C. Griffes, P. Miles, R. Ward (Sorrow o' Mydath)
We lay on the reeds (from The Faithful: A Tragedy in Three Acts) - R. Greaves (Song of the Fifth Ronin)
We're bound for blue water where the great winds blow (from Salt Water Ballads) - M. Barnes (A valediction)
When I'm discharged at Liverpool an' draws my bit o' pay - P. Corder
When I'm discharged at Liverpool 'n' draws my bit o' pay (from Salt Water Ballads) - J. Keel (Hell's pavement)
When the cruel war is done [x] - Z. Elliott
When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted (from Salt Water Ballads) (A Last Prayer) - C. Forsyth, G. Gibbs, J. Keel, J. Raynor
When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted (from Salt Water Ballads) - C. Forsyth, G. Gibbs, J. Keel, J. Raynor (D'Avalos' Prayer)
When the last sea is sailed (When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted) (from Salt Water Ballads) - C. Forsyth
Would I could win some quiet and rest, and a little ease - J. Raynor (The Ballad Of Sir Bors)
Yellow wine (I saw a ship a-sailing, a-sailing, a-sailing) (from Ballads and Poems) - R. Greaves

Last update: 2025-01-11 04:04:11