Dante Alighieri book Purgatorio
Canto I, lines 1–3 (tr. C. E. Norton).
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Purgatorio
Act III, scene i; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron (1608)
Dante Alighieri book Purgatorio
Canto I, lines 1–3 (tr. C. E. Norton).
The Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321), Purgatorio
“His blue eyes were seas where sorrow sailed.”
Dean Koontz book From the Corner of His Eye
Source: From the Corner of His Eye
"A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea"; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist
(6th March 1824) Metrical Tales. Tale II. The Poisoned Arrow
(13th March 1824) Metrical Tales. Tale III. — The Sisters See The Vow of The Peacock
The London Literary Gazette, 1824
John Masefield (1878–1967) English poet and writer
The first line is often misquoted as "I must go down to the seas again." and this is the wording used in the song setting by John Ireland. I disagree with this last point. The poet himself was recorded reading this and he definitely says "seas". The first line should read, 'I must down ...' not, 'I must go down ...' The original version of 1902 reads 'I must down to the seas again'. In later versions, the author inserted the word 'go'.
Source: https://poemanalysis.com/sea-fever-john-masefield-poem-analysis/
Salt-Water Ballads (1902), "Sea-Fever"