William H. Davies (1871-1940). In May. Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. 1922. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse

Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.

In May

By William H. Davies (1871–1940)


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	5
Stand to their necks in grass so deep;
While birds do sing with all their might,
As though they felt the earth in flight.
This is the hour I dream’d of, when
I sat surrounded by poor men;	10
And thought of how the Arab sat
Alone at evening, gazing at
The stars that bubbled in clear skies;
And of young dreamers, when their eyes
Enjoy’d methought a precious boon	15
In the adventures of the Moon
Whose light, behind the Clouds’ dark bars,
Search’d for her stolen flocks of stars.
When I, hemm’d in by wrecks of men,
Thought of some lonely cottage then,	20
Full of sweet books; and miles of sea,
With passing ships, in front of me;
And having, on the other hand,
A flowery, green, bird-singing land.