Cover of the first edition
The Everlasting Mercy is a poem by
John Masefield
John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...
, the UK's second longest-serving
poet laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
.
It was published in 1911, and is styled as the confession of a man who has turned from sin to Christianity. The work that first made Masefield famous, it shocked early 20th century British sensibilities with its direct, honest, and therefore often harsh language, as the life of protagonist violent, drunken womanizer Saul Kane is laid out in detail.
In Popular Media
In the third episode of the American TV series ''
Peter Gunn
''Peter Gunn'' is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, Edie Hart. The series aired on NBC from September 22, 1958, to 1960 and on ABC in 1960–1961. The seri ...
'', ''The Vicious Dog'', the last line is the antagonist's, asked why he'd committed the crimes, responding with a quote from ''The Everlasting Mercy'':
1911 poems
{{poem-stub
