About W. H. Davies
William Henry Davies was a Welsh poet and writer, who spent much of his life as a tramp or hobo in the United Kingdom and the United States, yet became one of the most popular poets of his time. His themes included observations on life's hardships, the ways the human condition is reflected in nature, his tramping adventures and the characters he met. His work has been classed as Georgian, though it is not typical of that class of work in theme or style. In 1885 Davies wrote his first poem entitled "Death." In Poet's Pilgrimage (1918) Davies recalls that, at the age of 14, he was left with orders to sit with his dying grandfather. Davies self-published his first slim book of poetry, The Soul's Destroyer, in 1905, again by means of his savings. To publish it, Davies forwent his allowance to live as a tramp for six months (with the first draft of the book hidden in his pocket), just to secure a loan of funds from his inheritance. Adcock is seen as "the man who discovered Davies." The first trade edition of The Soul's Destroyer was published by Alston Rivers in 1907.
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