Star Trek - "All I ask is a tall ship"

From an episode of Star Trek, Kirk quotes John Masefield's poem "Sea-Fever" to describe how he feels about captaining the Enterprise. "Even if you take away the wind and water, it's still the same. And the stars are still there..."
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"Sea-Fever"
John Masefield
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

[@stoneman127]

The true power of Star Trek is shown so perfectly in this scene. Using literature from 1902, you get the sense of the future they lived in as being real. Drawing the audience into a future existence that is positive, encompassing everyone, and full of wonder. So grand to see this kind of scene. Something that today's movie makers don't get. It's not the special effects (though always cool to have). It's the power of the emotion in the story.

[@viking670]

You hit the nail right on the head...very profoundly said !

[@foreverraining1522]

YES. Well said.

[@stormcutter59]

And the dialogue. One thing Star Trek absolutely excelled at beyond most others was the dialogue. Something most movies and shows today can't come even in the same realm of hitting. You lack so much of the power of a scene and even the performances of the actors when you don't back them up with excellent writing. It's such a waste to see great actors wasted today with the bottom of the barrel in literature.

[@99goat99]

...and this is precisely what JJ Abrams and Alex Kurtzman will NEVER understand.

[@BradenENelson]

Trek is at its best with character studies.

[@davincent98]

"Then how come you don't know "Row, Row, Row Your Boat?"

[@drewwinslow2105]

I am well versed in the classics, Doctor.

[@throwback19841]

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, shirts off, trousers down, isn't life a scream, WOOF" That's how it goes right?

[@tljackson7898]

“We’re on leave you can call me Jim” “Jim” “Yes Spock” “Life is not a dream” “GO TO SLEEP SPOCK”

[@trekguyncc1701]

Shatner is and was always a GREAT actor. PERIOD.

[@victorpradha9946]

"Second star to the right and straight on till morning" The final words from Kirk as Captain of the Enterprise at the end of Undiscovered Country.

[@MegaKaitouKID1412]

Don't you just LOVE Shatner's random. pauses. :) Yay sixties. :P

[@cosmictyger]

“...the stars are still there...”

[@tameralomax3417]

One of my favourite Kirk quotes, perfectly complimented by the music. Gives me goosebumps.

[@matthewisstrange]

Or as Quark said on DS9, “all I ask is a tall ship and some contraband to fill her with!”

[@haines96]

This is such a great moment and it's so meaningful when he circles back to the stars. It's not self pitying but it's just reflecting in a private moment... adding depth to the character. It makes Kirk a real person, with some deep thoughts and reflections but ready to get on to the work. Too often modern shows will make this into a super melodramatic moment.

[@gordoncameron2457]

An interesting touch is how Uhura calls right after Kirk has his little moment of poetic reflection. Can't dilly dally, work to be done.

[@manco828]

Flawless scene.

[@danbasta3677]

EXCELLENT SCENE!

[@BethGoth15]

Not only did he quote that poem, but he also quoted Willy Wonka lol. Can't you imagine Kirk having a blast watching that movie? XD

[@CzechClips]

Agreed, stoneman127: "Using literature from 1902, you get the sense of the future they lived in as being real. Drawing the audience into a future existence that is positive, encompassing everyone, and full of wonder. So grand to see this kind of scene. Something that today's movie makers don't get." What TOS got over the other series or movies is the sense of wonder and tradition. The original writers were writing mythology. The current movie's writers are writing comedy.

[@danbasta3677]

AGREED!

[@gordoncameron2457]

It's interesting that Kirk is nostalgic for something (traditional seafaring) which is familiar to us, while doing something (effortlessly traversing interstellar space) that we barely dare to dream of for our future.

[@thisisverytrue]

Happy 90th birthday Bill - your place, and special niche in sci-fi history is assured... and I don't just mean as the Lunar-Colony commander in 'Airplane 2'...

[@K-11609]

1:02 those brass notes will never stop giving me chills

[@F105thunderchieflove]

This is one of my favorite parts of Star Trek TOS :)

[@leroystea8069]

One of my wife's and mine favorite scene. And poem. Awesome♥♥

[@gordoncameron2457]

One of the best scenes in Trek, and one of the reasons The Ultimate Computer is one of my favorite TOS episodes.

[@nickcolbert9615]

One of Kirk’s best speeches, if not THE best. 🍻🖖🏼

[@Becksdad0803]

Dont forget the beautiful world-class orchestra that comes in the middle of this scene and many many others. That orchestra did not come cheap and rightly so. Star Trek i believe was THE most expensive show and part of that equation was to pay for the orchestra to create the music that would later be added- this incredible accompanying music into the scene footage to get the final edit.

[@gordoncameron2457]

One of the best scores in any TV series.

[@Bubbles99718]

The cue in with the music: perfection

[@TOHOFIEND54]

such a good show

[@silenusmeduseon8814]

Brilliant - thanks - subbed [those capital Stars]. From “The Ultimate Computer” [S2 E24] aired in 1968. One of the show’s best.

[@danbasta3677]

Second season episode, The Ulitmate Computer. Here again, the good Doctor, provides warm, friendly comfort in the same manner as he did in the first season episode, Balance Of Terror when he entered the Captains room and gave warm, friendly and encouraging advice to the Captain, continuing to show his deep support and concern for the Captain who was under a great deal of strain when dealing with thd Romulans in that episode. In this episode, The Ultimate Computer, the Captain was called captain dunsel, which is refered in Starfleet as a person that no longer serves no useful purpose. And Dr. McCoy here, shows his true loyality and deep friendship as well as encouragement, calling the Captain, to James T. Kirk, CAPTAIN of the USS ENTERPRISE.

[@Sulaco516]

Capt. Kirk said that again on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as the Galileo 5 shuttlecraft is on approach to the Enterprise-A.

[@maswellasm]

@Treblaine Oh so true. Aside from the rushed scenes with Nimoy, I felt like there was no heart, soul, or mind to the new movie, just a bunch of action sequences strung together with cliches. Real Star Trek TOS was so much more than it appeared to be and Roddenberry's frequent usage of topical, often controversial issues really gave deeper meaning to the phrase "to boldly go where no man has gone before".

[@TheAuntieBa]

Thank you for this clip.

[@excellNexcel]

"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by." John Masefield

[@bernardkung7306]

I always thought that was by R. L. Stevenson... Ah well... Time to see if I have any John Masefield on my bookshelves.

[@blancopeter]

Indeed a beautiful poem

[@Cuntstantine]

Oh how I love this scene ❤️‍🔥

[@EnterprizeShip]

We know what its like to sail Enterprize under the stars with the wind at your back

[@tomrennick5130]

*But the stars ARE overhead (and all around) as the USS Enterprise sails with the (solar) wind at its back. So Kirk was right - again!*

[@Treblaine]

This is the kind of stuff the new Star Trek movie so fatally lacked. Now Star Trek Reboot was not a "bad film"... it just wasn't anything special, it didn't have that Star Trek wonder for space-travel.

[@gordoncameron2457]

Abrams Star Trek is fine for what it is, but IMO it isn't Star Trek at all.

[@christophersanders3252]

Oh, man, Discovery was terrible.

[@davidsevenbros3065]

One of my favorite scenes (and there are many). It is such a lovely poem in its entirety and one beautifully set to music by English composer John Ireland.

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

The line that counts is at 1:02 -- "the ship is yours." Shatner hits that line hard, because Enterprise is being taken away from him by a computer. He's struggling to explain his feelings while maintaining the distance required of a captain. A lesser actor would have been glib with all those pretty words, just making a speech. But we don't make speeches to our friends.

[@hobbs1701a]

I love that this line was used again in ST V, but McCoy had no idea who the author was! Simply brilliant!! I miss real Star Trek.

[@Sulaco516]

Yeah. He said it on the shuttle.

[@searchlight18]

Thanks for this posting.I love this mixing of old and new themes. It's like a thought for the day.. Love it to death.. I subscribed, keep it up,mate...

[@xXKirkSoloXx]

The motto of the U.S.S. Defiant. (as seen on the dedication plaque)

[@CaptainJZH]

I'm not surprised. Sisko was always a fan of Kirk.

[@williamcostigan91]

He risked damaging the timeline just to get his autograph, not that I blame him.

[@lubu7961]

Tough little ship.

[@mbell420]

@@lubu7961 liitle?

[@jeffclark2]

This scene from "The Ultimate Computer" and Kirk's "risk is our business" ("Return To Tomorrow") is moving and inspirational. Drama, emotion and ensemble acting make these episodes stand out. Another scene is from "Metamorphosis," where Kirk tries to convince the Companion that she/it cannot know love because she/it is not human. The Companion must have understood what Kirk was saying because the Companion infused itself within the dying Nancy Hedford, thus allowing her to live (and the Companion sacrificing immortality!)

[@bronxboy1952]

So poignant a clip and so well presented!

[@geekeing]

@Potrimpo ......almost right. The correct title is "The Ultimate Computer"

[@TheFrog767]

Kirk is the captain period

[@michaelwoods1171]

And He says the same line in Star trek 5 when they are boarding the Enterprise...😊👌

[@SpeedyEric1]

Row, row, row your boat.

[@georgeplimpton9429]

You REALLY needed to add the same line said from Star Trek V

[@FierceQueen23]

It actually is a line from a poem from "Sea-Fever" by John Masefield.

[@quintquint5946]

Melville

[@TheRichNewnes]

@@quintquint5946 Nope, Masefield. I am well versed in the Classics haha.

[@estone7005]

Yes, it is "Sea Fever" by John Masefield. Masefield was my great grandmother's nephew and my grandfather's first cousin. Try reading "C.L.M." sometime without tearing up. He wrote the poem as a tribute to his mother, Carrie, who died when he was a little boy... Wasn't Shatner a handsome young fellow back then!

[@brennonguilbeau569]

@@TheRichNewnes How come ya don't know "row row row your boat?"

[@Trek001]

All these years of watching and I've just noticed that McCoy doesn't use the definite article of "the" when proposing a toast to Kirk "To James T. Kirk, Captain of Enterprise"

[@almostfm]

If you listen closely, he does, but it runs in the next word, so it's "Captain of thEnterprise"

[@NodDisciple1]

Nearly the exact same music and line used in Star Trek V, and yet McCoy still forgot who said it. XP

[@4TheRecord]

This is a quote used on the USS Defiant

[@LanceII]

God, Shatner makes this poem funny. "All I ask is.... A tall ship. And a..... star. To steer her by."

[@photonjones5908]

Anyone didn't get that Star Trek was really a riff on the Age of exploration, the Age of sail- must not have read up on that incredible time, both fact and fiction. I think Kirk really was Cook! Star Trek was also a celebration of the evolution of technology, which is what thosee tall ships were as well, in their own time. The Birth of the modern world was powered by the wind upon the water, -mastered by technology and human determination.

[@Northstadiumhusker]

"I think Kirk really was Cook! " Close. Gene Roddenberry said Kirk was based on Captain Horatio Hornblower.

[@Treblaine]

@maswellasm Well Star Trek had it's day in the sun, such a great TV series not to mention the First few movies. Today I get my sci-fi-space-with-modern-allegories from Battlestar Galactica; totally different from Star Trek but it has the depth and meaning that I crave.

[@davincent98]

Now you get that from Star Trek

[@nadin1898]

It's a beautiful poem but we can't even guess that it is a poem because of these... pauses... Lol. Captain Kirk/quotes from books is definitely my OTP. :D He is so awesome when recites something.

[@TheRichNewnes]

Yes, this is a much better moment for him than "Kaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhnnnnn!!!!!" LMAO!

[@mnolanporter]

Gene Wilder quotes this poem in the Willie Wonka movie too. I think he also recites some Ogden Nash in that movie too.

[@TheRichNewnes]

Not to mention Rachmaninoff Hahaha!

[@iloveit4ever]

All I ask is a tall ship and a load of contraband to fill her with.

[@Cybrsk8r]

Why do I think Kirk would have been much happier as the captain of one of Columbus' ships.

[@markfergerson2145]

Maybe a British Ship of The Line. Roddenberry originally pitched Trek as "Wagon Train (the TV show) In Space" but quickly redrew it as "Horatio Hornblower In Space". That's why.

[@JnEricsonx]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnPdoHWdm9Joa9k

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

I think he'd be happiest on whatever was fastest.

[@hemaccabe4292]

If you're missing Star Trek, I invite Trekkers to enjoy a completely free novel, just Google Star Trek Lost Destiny.

[@stevenmusser5698]

and willie wonka's version too

[@viking670]

M5 tie in.

[@craigsamuelrobinson]

HUH?

[@internationalspaceagency-o5913]