Leisure
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
William Henry Davies 1871-1940
William Henry Davies is often referred to as the Poet of the tramps and became one of the most popular poets of his time. Born in Portland Street, in the Pillgwenlly district of south east Wales, he came to the US and lived the life of a vagabond. His father died when he was two and his mother abandoned him and his siblings when she remarried. The children are then said to have lived with their grandparents who ran the nearby Church House Inn.
In Canada, as a result of injuries sustained while jumping a train, he lost a leg and wore a wooden leg thereafter.
Later on, he returned to England and published his first work A Soul’s Destroyer with the little money he made pan-handling. It is believed that he wrote poetry throughout his life.
Davies’ work became popular after George Bernard Shaw happened upon a copy of A Soul’s Destroyer. The theme of Davies’ poetry relate mainly to his own personal experiences and life’s hardships, about the wonder of nature and characters he had met. He was later also acquainted with the poet Hillaire Belloc.
In Edgware Road near Marble Arch, England he picked up a prostitute named Helen Payne whom he married in 1923. Davies published an autobiography titled Young Emma about his life before and after meeting Helen. It was published in 1980 after Helen’s death in 1979. Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._H._Davies
Young Emma is the brutally honest revelation of Davies’ attempts to find a wife in the streets of England. His desire to find a viable relationship is the same as what drives us today in our dating and relatioship pursuits and it is definitely a reflection of all lovers through the passage of time.