William Henry Davis

by

Joyce Hemsley

William Henry Davies
British Poet
Born and died in Wales
1871 - 1940.

Famous for many quotes -
I'm sure you will recognize
the following two lines:

"What is life, if full of care,we
have no time to stand and stare?"

William Henry Davies worked on the
buildings early in life, before
travelling to America, where he
became a hobo, and whilst riding
the rods, lost his right foot.
Riding the rods means hitching a
ride on a freight car or train -
which I believe is against the law
in this day and age - however, he
returned to England and published
a volume of poems "Soul's Destroyer"
1906. George Bernard Shaw spoke
highly of William's work, and it
was very successful. His writing
was well thought of, and he published
verse and prose ~ Autobiography of a
Super Tramp.

The following poem is taken from
C.Day Lewis' "Golden Treasury" - its
title Born of Tears. First stanza:

A thing that's rich in tears is sweet,
No sounds in all the world are sweeter.
A robin redbreast in the fall,
The nightingale in June;
The bleating of young lambs in March
And the violin in tune.
These are the sounds that haunt my ears
And all of them are born of tears.
W.H. Davies.

I cannot gather very much information
about this poet's private life. If you
are interested, you may find his
personal details on the Search Button.
He wrote many great poems in his
lifetime, and we are ever grate to him.

NEXT?
Why don't you look at Lost Child
by: John Paul Brooks
from: Liverpool, England, UK

To visit all of Joyce Hemsley's poems, click HERE

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