NOTABLE CAREER

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 110, 12 May 1930, Page 9

NOTABLE CAREER

British Official Wireless. (Received 12th May, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, 10th May. The King has appointed John Masefield to be Poet Laiireato in succession to the late Doctor Robert Bridges. • Tho appointment" of Mr. Masefield has given great pleasure in literary circles .and especially among Mr. Masefiold's fellow poets. The new Laureate, who is 55, has written several notable hovels as well as long narrative1 poems which display an intense love of the sea and of the English countryside. Ho was born in the West of England, and as a youth, ran away to sea', serving before the mast for1 several years and gaining experiences which' are reflected in his "Salt Water Ballads." After wandering around America doing odd jobs, including that of bar tender, he returned to England,and began to, write seriously. He wrote sea sketches for the "Manchester Guardian," some notable short poems, including the wellknown "Sea Fever," and then a series of long poems beginning with "The Everlasting Mercy," the vigorous and unconventional style of whjch attracted much attention. His* most recent book was "The Hawbucks," published last year, which is a story of hunting shires. '■~„«' Mr. MasefieW lives at Boxhill, Oxford, and was a neighbour and close friend of his predecessor, Dr. Bridges. He is of an extremely shy temperament, and is glad that the Laureateship does not in these days involve- writing to order.