W. H. Davies
William Henry Davies, born on July 3, 1871, in Newport, Wales, was a notable Welsh poet and writer known for his unique life experiences and literary contributions. His early years were marked by tragedy, including the deaths of several siblings and the loss of his father to tuberculosis. After a tumultuous childhood, which included periods of hardship and a stint as an apprentice, Davies embarked on a life as a wanderer, traveling extensively in the United States and engaging in a transient lifestyle.
Injured in a freight train accident, which resulted in the loss of his leg, Davies turned to writing, and his first major work, "The Soul's Destroyer, and Other Poems," was published in 1905. He gained significant recognition with his prose work "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp," which vividly depicted the tramping life and garnered attention from influential figures like George Bernard Shaw. Throughout his career, Davies published numerous volumes of poetry and prose, including the notable work "Young Emma," which was posthumously released due to its controversial content.
Davies is remembered as part of the Georgian poetry movement, and his writings reflect a deep connection to the experiences of a free-spirited existence. He passed away on September 26, 1940, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate with readers interested in themes of adventure and the human condition.
On this Page
Subject Terms
W. H. Davies
Poet
- Born: July 3, 1871
- Birthplace: Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
- Died: September 26, 1940
- Place of death: Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England
Biography
William Henry Davies was born on July 3, 1871, to Francis Davies and Mary Ann Davis in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. One of six children, Davies experienced extreme hardship in his young years. Three of his siblings died in infancy, and a fourth was mentally disabled. His father died of tuberculosis when Davies was three years old. With his mother’s remarriage a year later, Davies and his siblings were sent to live with his paternal grandparents, who ran a pub. His grandfather, an old sea captain, seemed to have special influence on Davies, and he thrilled the boy with tales of the sea.
As a young boy, Davies enjoyed literature, especially the Romantic poets. Apparently, however, he was the ringleader of a group of young shoplifters, and his education was stopped when he was caught. In 1885, his grandfather died, and Davies began an apprenticeship as a gilder. He hated the work. With his grandmother’s death in 1893, he traveled to the United States and lived the life of a tramp. For the next six years he wandered the United States and traveled back and forth between America and England on cattle boats. In 1899, while jumping for a freight car in Canada, Davies lost his footing and was injured; he lost his leg as a result.
When he returned to England, Davies decided to be a writer. However, in order to publish his work, publishers demanded a subsidy. Davies tramped around the country peddling and begging to raise the money. The resulting volume was the 1905 The Soul’s Destroyer, and Other Poems. This book featured the pastoral poetry for which Davies would become known. Although Davies only paid for two hundred fifty copies to be printed, he had difficulty selling them until he began sending the poems to notable people and asking them to purchase copies. In this way he came to the attention of the important writer George Bernard Shaw, who purchased additional copies and circulated them. After producing two more books of poetry, Davies published a prose volume called The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp. Shaw wrote an introduction for the volume, and it was an instantaneous success. Using his own embellished experiences for subject matter, Davies revealed to readers the day-to-day existence of the tramping life. This volume was ultimately his most famous work, although he published many other books of prose and poetry.
An additional book of note is Davies’s Young Emma, the story of how he found a wife half his age on the streets of London. Although written in the 1920’s, the content of the book was too sexual for his publishers, and it did not see the light of day until 1980. Davies died on September 26, 1940. As a poet, Davies contributed to the pre-World War I school of Georgian poetry. The poems from this school have fallen in and out of critical favor over the years. His greatest achievement was to share the experiences of his freewheeling life.