Eugene O’Neill and John Masefield: The Hounds of Heaven and Hell

The prominent English poet, playwright, and novelist John Masefield has hardly figured at all in discussions of literary influences on Eugene O’Neill’s writing, and yet many points of crossover can be analyzed. Moreover, the very pattern of Masefield’s life and early career can be mapped onto O’Neill’s, suggesting that O’Neill (a decade younger) might have articulated his aesthetic choices in terms of what he knew about this experimental writer. Masefield became famous with his explorations of maritime life, notably in his most famous poem, “Sea-Fever,” which O’Neill respectfully parodied, but he also explored folk tragedy in plays like The Tragedy of Nan, which might have influenced O’Neill’s early naturalism. The impact of Masefield’s thematic novels and his full-length verse plays can also be discerned. Masefield’s twisted version of Francis Thompson’s “The Hound of Heaven,” which O’Neill was known to recite at length, can be seen as an influence on The Emperor Jones.