Collected Poems of William H. Davies

William Henry Davies, a poet famed for his talented portrayals of nature and indigence, penned numerous evocative verses. This 1916 anthology is a summation of his early to midlife work.

As a young man, Davies favored the life of a homeless person. Born in Wales, he spent part of his youth in North America, making his way through various locales on foot or by train as a tramp. In 1899 he experienced a serious accident; while aboard a moving train in Ontario he slipped and his foot was caught and crushed by a moving wheel. His leg was amputated below the knee, necessitating a peg leg. This shocking event marked the beginning of Davies' poetic career.

The style of Davies' poems is simple yet distinctive, his economy with words coinciding with unique impact and grace. Meditations upon the beauty of the natural world are accompanied by descriptive verse on such topics as childhood, emotional states, the warmth of a good fire, and creatures of the great outdoors. Despite further blows to his health as the years passed, Davies was productive for decades, publishing fondly-received anthologies well into the 1930s.