Sea Fever – John Ireland (1879-1962) and John Masefield (1878-1967)

The composer of this song, which was written just before World War I, was John Ireland, an English composer who wrote songs and pieces for piano.

He was a music teacher which seems very fitting as this song is still popular amongst young students of singing and regularly included in song recitals.

The poet was John Masefield who published the poem as part of his Salt-Water Ballads.

Sea Fever is the perfect accompaniment for the story in our video here – the rich chords of Ireland’s piano accompaniment paints perfectly the wind howling, the crashing waves and the eventual calm after the storm.