W. H. Davies Quotes

• 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.

  W. H. Davies

  Spiritual, Stars, Eye

  W. H. Davies (2015). “The True Traveller: A Reader”, p.264, Carcanet Press Ltd

  37 Copy quote

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

  W. H. Davies

  Life, Stress, Humor

  Songs of Joy (1911) "Leisure"

  69 Copy quote

• No matter where the body is, the mind is free to go elsewhere.

  W. H. Davies

  Mind, Body, Matter

  William Henry Davies, “The Mind's Liberty”

  21 Copy quote

• Now shall I walk or shall I ride? 'Ride,' Pleasure said; 'Walk,' Joy replied.

  W. H. Davies

  Life, Hiking, Joy

  William Henry Davies, “The Best Friend”

  28 Copy quote

• As long as I love Beauty I am young.

  W. H. Davies

  Love Is, Long, Young

  William Henry Davies, “Seeking Beauty”

  11 Copy quote

• I love thee for a heart that’s kind--not for the knowledge in thy mind.

  W. H. Davies

  Heart, Mind, Kind

  William Henry Davies, “Sweet Stay-At-Home”

  4 Copy quote

• Teetotallers lack the sympathy and generosity of men that drink.

  W. H. Davies

  Sympathy, Food, Beer

  Shorter Lyrics of the 20th Century, Introduction

  11 Copy quote

• I turned my head and saw the wind,
  Not far from where I stood,
  Dragging the corn by her golden hair,
  Into a dark and lonely wood.

  W. H. Davies

  Lonely, Dark, Hair

  William Henry Davies, “The VILLain”

  17 Copy quote

• 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;
  While cows lie down to eat, and sheep
  Stand to their necks in grass so deep;
  While birds do sing with all their might,
  As though they felt the earth in flight.

  W. H. Davies

  Lying, Home, Sheep

  William Henry Davies, “In May”

  11 Copy quote

• When on a summer's morn I wake,
  And open my two eyes,
  Out to the clear, born-singing rills
  My bird-like spirit flies.
  
  To hear the Blackbird, Cuckoo, Thrush,
  Or any bird in song;
  And common leaves that hum all day
  Without a throat or tongue.
  
  And when Time strikes the hour for sleep,
  Back in my room alone,
  My heart has many a sweet bird's song -
  And one that's all my own.

  W. H. Davies

  Summer, Song, Sweet

  William Henry Davies, “When On A Summer's Morn”

  13 Copy quote

• What sweet, what happy days had I,When dreams made Time Eternity!

  W. H. Davies

  Dream, Sweet, Happy Day

  W. H. Davies (2015). “The True Traveller: A Reader”, p.234, Carcanet Press Ltd

  13 Copy quote

• 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.

  W. H. Davies

  Money, Men, Doors

  William Henry Davies, “Money”

  15 Copy quote

• It was the rainbow gave thee birth, and left thee all her lovely hues.

  W. H. Davies

  Rainbow, Lovely, Hue

  'Kingfisher' (1910)

  12 Copy quote

• Pleasure's a Moth, that sleeps by day And dances by false glare at night; But Joy's a Butterfly, that loves To spread its wings in Nature's light.

  W. H. Davies

  Sleep, Butterfly, Night

  William Henry Davies, “Joy And Pleasure”

  9 Copy quote

• Peace to these little broken leaves, That strew our common ground; That chase their tails, like silly dogs, As they go round and round. For though in winter boughs are bare, Let us not once forget Their summer glory, when these leaves Caught the great Sun in their strong net; And made him, in the lower air, Tremble - no bigger than a star!

  W. H. Davies

  Summer, Dog, Strong

  7 Copy quote

• But cats to me are strange, so strange I cannot sleep if one is near.

  W. H. Davies

  Sleep, Cat, Strange

  10 Copy quote

• And hear the pleasant cockoo, loud and long - The simple bird that thinks two notes a song.

  W. H. Davies

  Song, Simple, Thinking

  William Henry Davies, “April's Charms”

  6 Copy quote

• I cannot see the short, white curls
  Upon the forehead of an Ox,
  But what I see them dripping with
  That poor thing's blood, and hear the ax;
  When I see calves and lambs, I see
  Them led to death; I see no bird
  Or rabbit cross the open field
  But what a sudden shot is heard;
  A shout that tells me men aim true,
  For death or wound, doth chill me through.

  W. H. Davies

  Men, Animal, Blood

  4 Copy quote

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