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    King Cole: “Life, a beauty chased by tragic laughter.”
    King Cole: “Life, a beauty chased by tragic laughter.”
    King Cole: “Life, a beauty chased by tragic laughter.”
    Ebook54 pages38 minutes

    King Cole: “Life, a beauty chased by tragic laughter.”

    By John Masefield

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    John Edward Masefield was born in 1878 in the sleepy market town of Ledbury in rural Hertfordshire. An idyllic childhood was ruined when he was left an orphan and sent to live with an Aunt who decided his education and life would be better spent at sea. At age 13 he boarded a school ship and there his love of writing and reading blossomed. By 1899 he began to publish and apart from brief service during World War I he now had a life of writing and lecture tours. He published much; novels, poetry and even an account of the disastrous war effort in the Dardanelles at Gallipoli. Upon the death of Robert Bridges in 1930, Masefield was given the prestigious position of Poet Laureate, a role he would fulfill until his death; the only poet to hold the position for a longer period was Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Despite later ill health and the death of his wife in 1960, Masefield continued to write. In 1966, he published his last book of poems, In Glad Thanksgiving, at the age of 88. In the latter part of 1966 gangrene was diagnosed in his ankle. This gradually spread through his leg and claimed his life on May 12, 1967. He was cremated and his ashes placed in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. Here we present King Cole.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCopyright Group
    Release dateJan 26, 2015
    ISBN9781785431036
    King Cole: “Life, a beauty chased by tragic laughter.”
    Author

    John Masefield

    John Masefield was a well-known English poet and novelist. After boarding school, Masefield took to a life at sea where he picked up many stories, which influenced his decision to become a writer. Upon returning to England after finding work in New York City, Masefield began publishing his poetry in periodicals, and then eventually in collections. In 1915, Masefield joined the Allied forces in France and served in a British army hospital there, despite being old enough to be exempt from military service. After a brief service, Masefield returned to Britain and was sent overseas to the United States to research the American opinion on the war. This trip encouraged him to write his book Gallipoli, which dealt with the failed Allied attacks in the Dardanelles, as a means of negating German propaganda in the Americas. Masefield continued to publish throughout his life and was appointed as Poet Laureate in 1930. Masefield died in 1967 the age of 88.

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      Book preview

      King Cole - John Masefield

      King Cole by John Masefield

      John Edward Masefield was born in 1878 in the sleepy market town of Ledbury in rural Hertfordshire.

      An idyllic childhood was ruined when he was left an orphan and sent to live with an Aunt who decided his education and life would be better spent at sea.  At age 13 he boarded a school ship and there his love of writing and reading blossomed. 

      By 1899 he began to publish and apart from brief service during World War I he now had a life of writing and lecture tours.  He published much; novels, poetry and even an account of the disastrous war effort in the Dardanelles at Gallipoli.

      Upon the death of Robert Bridges in 1930, Masefield was given the prestigious position of Poet Laureate, a role he would fulfill until his death; the only poet to hold the position for a longer period was Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

      Despite later ill health and the death of his wife in 1960, Masefield continued to write. In 1966, he published his last book of poems, In Glad Thanksgiving, at the age of 88.

      In the latter part of 1966 gangrene was diagnosed in his ankle. This gradually spread through his leg and claimed his life on May 12, 1967. He was cremated and his ashes placed in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.

      Index of Contents

      King Cole

      John Masefield – A Short Biography

      John Masefield – A Concise Bibliography

      KING COLE

      King Cole was King before the troubles came,

      The land was happy while he held the helm,

      The valley-land from Condicote to Thame,

      Watered by Thames and green with many an elm.

      For many a year he governed well his realm,

      So well-beloved, that, when at last he died,

      It was bereavement to the countryside.

      So good, so well-beloved, had he been

      In life, that when he reached the judging-place

      (There where the scales are even, the sword keen),

      The Acquitting Judges granted him a grace,

      Aught he might choose, red, black, from king to ace,

      Beneath the bright arch of the heaven's span;

      He chose, to wander earth, the friend of man.

      So, since that time, he wanders shore and shire,

      An old, poor, wandering man, with glittering eyes

      Helping distressful folk to their desire

      By power of spirit that within him lies.

      Gentle he is, and quiet, and most wise,

      He wears a ragged grey, he sings sweet words,

      And where he walks there flutter little birds.

      And when the planets glow as dusk begins

      He pipes a wooden flute to music old.

      Men hear him on the downs, in lonely inns,

      In valley woods, or up the Chiltern wold;

      His piping feeds the starved and warms the cold,

      It gives the beaten courage; to the lost

      It brings back faith, that lodestar of the ghost.

      And most he haunts the beech-tree-pasturing chalk,

      The Downs and Chilterns with the Thames between.

      There still the Berkshire shepherds see him walk,

      Searching the unhelped woe with instinct keen,

      His old hat stuck with never-withering green,

      His flute in poke, and little singings sweet

      Coming from birds that flutter at

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