<Tr> <Th> Genre </Th> <Td> Poetry, children's novels </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Notable awards </Th> <Td> Shakespeare Prize (1938) </Td> </Tr> <P> John Edward Masefield, OM (/ ˈmeɪsˌfiːld, ˈmeɪz - /; 1 June 1878--12 May 1967) English poet and writer, was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 . Among his best known works are the children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and the poems "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea - Fever". </P> <P> Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to Caroline and George Masefield, a solicitor . His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only six, and he went to live with his aunt . His father died soon after following a mental breakdown . After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his aunt thought little . He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing . It was aboard the Conway that Masefield's love for story - telling grew . While on the ship, he listened to the stories told about sea lore . He continued to read, and felt that he was to become a writer and story teller himself . </P>

Who wrote i must go down to the sea