In the poem "Sea Fever" by John Masefield, what does the speaker ask for?"Sea Fever" by John Masefield

Literally speaking, the speaker asks for a number of
things in this poem.  He asks for a tall ship and a star to steer by.  He asks for a
merry yarn and a good sleep after his long trick.  He asks for many other things in
between.  So the real issue is to think about what this means in a figurative
sense.

Figuratively, I would argue that the speaker is
asking for freedom and excitement.  Although he feels compelled to go to sea, his words
about the sea are full of the language of freedom.  He wants to hear the sails cracking
and the wind driving him along.  He wants to be like the gulls and the whales.  These
requests convey to me an image of freedom and of doing things that are thrilling.  He is
not chained to a desk in a closed room or to any other sort of mundane thing on the
land.  Instead, he is out there on the ocean, pitting himself against the
elements.

Figuratively, then, the speaker is asking for a
fulfilling life.  One in which he is free to do what he wants and to challenge himself. 
Afterwards, he wants a good rest, but while he is alive, he wants to live life to its
fullest.