This week’s choice is “The West Wind” by John Masefield, a poem that celebrates spring.
“The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run.
John Masefield (1878—1967)
It’s blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun.
It’s song to a man’s soul, brother, fire to a man’s brain,
To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again.”
Poem 314. The West Wind
It’s a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds’ cries;
I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.
For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills.
And April’s in the west wind, and daffodils.
It’s a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine,
Apple orchards blossom there, and the air’s like wine.
There is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest,
And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from the nest.
“Will ye not come home, brother? You have been long away,
It’s April, and blossom time, and white is the may;
And bright is the sun, brother, and warm is the rain,—
Will you not come home, brother, home to us again?”
“The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run.
It’s blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun.
It’s song to a man’s soul, brother, fire to a man’s brain,
To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again.”
“Larks are singing in the west, brother, above the green wheat,
So will ye not come home, brother, and rest your tired feet?
I’ve a balm for bruised hearts, brother, sleep for aching eyes,”
Says the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds’ cries.
It’s the white road westwards is the road I must tread
To the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head,
To the violets, and the warm hearts, and the thrushes’ song,
In the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong.
John Masefield’s poem is a tribute to the warm days of spring and summer when the west wind brings better weather.
The first stanza shows his strong feeling for the west wind: its warmth, the birdsong it carries, the promise of spring and the daffodils blooming; all these wonderful things bring tears to his eyes.
The second stanza speaks of the lands from which the west wind blows, praising them for the soothing atmosphere, their orchards with long green grass to rest in and the calming song of nesting thrushes.
The third stanza imagines the west lands beckoning him, where he can enjoy the may blossom, the sunshine and the rain and truly feel that he is home.
The fourth stanza continues this theme, describing the crops in the fields with the rabbits running amongst the corn stalks, the blue sky dotted with white clouds and the bees buzzing—all this energises us, inspires us, and raises our spirits: “It’s song to a man’s soul, brother, fire to a man’s brain”.
The next stanza emphasises the healing power of those more temperate days and the lands that enjoy them: the larks singing in the sky above the wheatfields bring “balm for bruised hearts…sleep for aching eyes”
The final stanza isn’t included in every version of the poem, but Masefield expresses his desire to travel the westward road to the country he has so ably brought us: “the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong.”
I like this poem because although it’s fairly short, it’s a torrent of description and really shows Masefield’s love for the west wind and the hills whence it comes. It resembles “Sea Fever” quite closely and several passages remind me of “I must go down to the seas again, the lonely sea and the sky.”
The poem is clearly a favourite with those learning English as a foreign language as there are several readings on YouTube but I was quite delighted to find one where Masefield himself reads the poem in a rather plaintive voice.
This is the end of the fourth year of Poet’s Day. I hope you enjoy these poems as much as I do.
Links
- Listen to John Masefield perform his own poem on YouTube.