Ledbury and John Masefield

 More cargoes

Ledbury Masefield's "once upon a time"

has a tall ship, becalmed in Panama,

find new work -- crew enriched above a dime,

and a morning's incredible bazaar:


bananas, raisins, dried figs, melon seeds,

paint, peas, calico, silk, rum, bottled ale,

sweets, lamps, bowls, candles, shoes for joys and needs,

casked beef and pork, and cotton by the bale,


cocoa, tea, oilskins, rugs, blankets, sea-boots,

candles, knives, nutmeg graters, soap and matches,

fiddles, melodeons, whistles, brooms, flutes,

green and grey parrots, kittens as rat catchers,


a talking monkey. Tale and ship are tall.

What goods are yours, Ledbury carnival?




This poem was written at the request of our friend Robin Hiseman for the programme of this year's Ledbury carnival. He serves on the carnival committee.

The event's theme this year was "Once upon a time". Knowing that Ledbury was the birthplace of the poet John Masefield (1878-1967; Poet Laureate from 1930), I thought I'd find what use he'd made of the phrase. I have a 1923 volume of his Collected poems, already extensive by that date, and "once upon a time" doesn't appear in the book's index of first lines. Similar phrases do occur, but none of their poems was suitable.

So I looked online. And a hunt for "John Masefield" with "once upon a time", both phrases being sealed between quotes, brought up the chapter 'A sailor's yarn' in his prose collection A mainsail haul. It begins:

"Once upon a time there was a clipper ship called the Mary, and she was lying in Panama waiting for a freight."

If my poem gives you any appetite for the rest of the story, follow the link above!

You'll have noticed that the 150th anniversary of Masefield's birth will occur a couple of years from now. Ledbury Town Council is already making plans for the celebration. Another link to keep an eye on.