Summative Part 2: Review of William Davies' Poetry

Last spring, I got a book called Modern British Poetry, which is a collection of poems by a number of British poets of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From pages 147 to 152 are poems by William Henry Davies.

As the book’s brief description of Davies says, “it is the extraordinary freshness of his vision, his unspoiled, bright-eyed enthusiasm, which distinguishes him as one of the greatest pastoral poets of his country.” His rhymes are simple, understandable, and relatable, and the subject of most of them is nature. As you read his poems, the words seem to flow in a sort of music, and paints images in the mind’s eye. Davies described these things in such a way that they seem very alive, and you cannot help but draw emotional connections to the subject matter. Everything is described with such wonder and fascination, and Davies draws attention to the details most people overlook.

One of his poems, The Example, speaks of Davies’ goal to find joy in the small things in life. The lines

“I’ll make my joy like this

Small Butterfly,

Whose happy heart has power

To make a stone a flower”

remind one to enjoy life and that being happy and positive can make life better.

Of the poems by Davies in Modern British Poetry my personal favourite is one called Leisure. It reminds you to slow down and notice – and appreciate – the simple things, such as the sparkles on water; the “streams full of stars.”

The beauty and emotion of these poems came from a vagabond who started in the writing business by peddling a book of his poems like any other ware. Davies sent his manuscript to a man named Bernard Shaw, who read it and instantly noticed the author’s skill. Shaw wrote in the preface of Davies’ second book, The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp,

“…before I had read three lines I perceived that the author was a real poet… Here, I saw, was a genuine innocent, writing odds and ends of verse about odds and ends of things…”

Between 1906 and 1925, Davies published twelve volumes of poetry, as well as Collected Poems: First Series and Collected Poems: Second Series, which contain most of his poems. Not only did he write beautiful poetry, but his success story was also fairly inspirational.

Anyone who has a passion for poetry and/or nature would really enjoy the poems Davies wrote. Although his poems are from the early twentieth century, they are still very relevant to life today, and will continue to be relevant for as long as the earth exists. Davies’ poetic style is also light enough that people who do not usually read poetry can and read and enjoy his. I would definitely recommend that anyone and everyone should read his poems. Personally, I’m on the hunt for a more complete anthology of his works. Even if I don’t ever successfully find an anthology, I will continue to read and love those of Davies’ poems that are in Modern British Poetry.