W. H. Davies: Difference between revisions
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A sculpture commemorating WH Davies is located in Commercial Street, [[Newport]]. |
A sculpture commemorating WH Davies is located in Commercial Street, [[Newport]]. |
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He returned to his native [[Newport]] in September [[1938]] for the unveiling of a plaque in his honour at the Church House Inn with an address given by the Poet Laureate [[John Masefield]]. |
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==Works== |
==Works== |
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Revision as of 14:03, 22 January 2008
William Henry Davies or WH Davies (1871 - September 26, 1940), was a Welsh poet and writer.
The People's Poet
He spent a significant part of his life as a tramp in the United States and United Kingdom, but became known as one of the most popular poets of his time. The theme of his works mainly relate to the marvels of nature, observations about life's hardships, his tramping adventures and characters he met.
Early Life in Monmouthshire
He was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, in south east Wales, where his father died when he was just two years old. His mother then abandoned him and his siblings when she remarried, leaving them to be brought up by their paternal grandparents. He was related to the famous British actor Sir Henry Irving (referred to as cousin Brodribb by the family).
Delinquent to Supertramp
He was a difficult and somewhat delinquent young man, and after failing to settle as an apprentice, took casual work and travelled. The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp (1908) covers his life until that point in time including many adventures and characters in the USA 1893 - '99, where he lived as a tramp.
This work drew the attention of George Bernard Shaw and is prefaced by him; the popular 1970's group 'Supertramp' takes its name from this composition. He lost a leg while jumping a train in Canada, and wore a wooden leg thereafter.
Published Poet
He returned to England, living a rough life in London in particular. His first book of poetry, in 1905, was the beginning of success and a growing reputation; he drew extensively on his experiences with the seamier side for material. By the time of his prominent place in the Edward Marsh Georgian poetry series, he was an established figure. He is generally best known for two lines from his poem, Leisure:
- What is this life if, full of care,
- We have no time to stand and stare.
Personal Life
He married in 1923 Helen Payne, his junior by three decades; his frank and often disturbing account of his life before and after meeting her by chance in the Edgware Road near Marble Arch was only published in 1980 after her death in 1979. They lived quietly and happily in Sussex and Gloucestershire.
A sculpture commemorating WH Davies is located in Commercial Street, Newport.
He returned to his native Newport in September 1938 for the unveiling of a plaque in his honour at the Church House Inn with an address given by the Poet Laureate John Masefield.
Works
- The Soul's Destroyer (1905) poems
- The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp (1908)
- Beggars (1909)
- New Poems (1907),
- Nature Poems (1908),
- Farewell to Poesy (1910),
- Songs of Joy (1911),
- Foliage (1913)
- The Bird of Paradise (1914)
- Raptures (1918) poems
- Shorter Lyrics 1900-1922 (1922, Bodley Head anthology) (editor)
- True Travellers. A Tramps Opera in Three Acts (1923) (illustrated by Sir William Nicholson)
- Secrets (1924) poems
- Later Days (1925)
- The Collected Poems of W. H. Davies (1928)
- The Loneliest Mountain (1939) poems
- Complete Poems (1963)
- Young Emma (1980) autobiography
External links
