John Masefield (1878-1967) is one of the great storytellers of English poetry, a spinner of yarns and ballads of tall ships and exotic seas, of the deep-rooted life of the rural England in which he grew up, and of the great narratives of Troy and Arthurian legend. Some included here - 'Sea-Fever' and 'Cargoes' - are among the best-loved poems in English; others are little known; a few are hitherto uncollected rarities. All share Masefield's love of the particular lives of seafarers and those who work the land, and his ability to draw the reader into their stories. This is a representative anthology of Masefield's poems, in chronological sequence spanning his long career. The editor provides a full introduction to Masefield's work.