William Henry Davies Poems

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
...

I hear leaves drinking rain;
I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
Drop after drop;
...

When I had money, money, O!
I knew no joy till I went poor;
For many a false man as a friend
Came knocking all day at my door.
...

When April scatters charms of primrose gold
Among the copper leaves in thickets old,
And singing skylarks from the meadows rise,
To twinkle like black stars in sunny skies;
...

No idle gold -- since this fine sun, my friend,
Is no mean miser, but doth freely spend.

No prescious stones -- since these green mornings show,
...

She walks as lightly as the fly
Skates on the water in July.

To hear her moving petticoat
...

Now, joy is born of parents poor,
And pleasure of our richer kind;
Though pleasure's free, she cannot sing
As sweet a song as joy confined.
...

This life is sweetest; in this wood
I hear no children cry for food;
I see no woman, white with care;
No man, with muscled wasting here.
...

Now shall I walk
Or shall I ride?
"Ride", Pleasure said;
"Walk", Joy replied.
...

Yes, I will spend the livelong day
With Nature in this month of May;
And sit beneath the trees, and share
My bread with birds whose homes are there;
...