W. H. Davies

James Bridges (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Newman University), Louise McDonald (Newman University)

Dates

Born 3 Jul 1871
Died 26 Sep 1940
Activity 1905-1939

Places

Born in Wales
Active in England; Wales

Activities

Primary

Autobiographer
Poet

Resources

W.H. Davies was born in south Wales, in the small town of Newport, Gwent, in 1871. He left school in his mid teens, and was apprenticed to a picture frame business. A wide and enthusiastic reader, he nurtured ambitions of travel, which the death of an aunt helped realise, for he was left with a small legacy. Having travelled to the USA, he lived as a tramp for some years. Then, while moving north to Canada, he lost a leg through jumping a train.

He returned to England, and continued a vagrant life, frequenting the doss houses of London. His first collection, The Soul's Destroyer (1905), established many of the key features of Davies's verse: pastoralism, sympathy for the underdog, and an often childlike simplicity of …

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523 words

Citation: Bridges, James. "W. H. Davies". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 March 2003 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5213, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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