JOHN MASEFIELD 131 



of this, and getting another inch of that, till we 

 were weary. But as we hauled we sang and 

 shouted. We were possessed of the spirits of the 

 wind. We could have danced and killed each 

 other. We were in an ecstasy. We were pos- 

 sessed. We half believed that the ship would leap 

 from the waters and hurl herself into the heavens, 

 like a winged god. Over her bows came the 

 sprays in showers of sparkles. Her foresail was 

 wet to the yard. Her scuppers were brooks. Her 

 swing-ports spouted like cataracts. Recollect, too, 

 that it was a day to make your heart glad. It was 

 a clear day, a sunny day, a day of brightness and 

 splendour. The sun was glorious in the sky. The 

 sky was of a blue unspeakable. We were tearing 

 along across a splendour of sea that made you 

 sing. Far as one could see there was the 

 water — shining and shaking. Blue it was, and 

 green it was, and of a dazzling brilliance in the 

 sun. It rose up in hills and in ridges. It smashed 

 into a foam and roared. It towered up again and 

 toppled. It mounted and shook in a rhythm, in a 

 tune, in a music. One could have flung one's 

 body to it as a sacrifice. One longed to be in it, to 

 be a part of it, to be beaten and banged by it. It 

 was a wonder and a glory and a terror. It was a 

 riumph, it was royal, to see tliat beauty. 



John Masejleld. 



