'Good morning to Life'

 

“Being in this fine mood, I spoke to a little boy, whom I saw playing alone in the road, asking him what he was going to be when he grew up. Of course I expected to hear him say a sailor, a soldier, a hunter, or something else that seems heroic to childhood, and I was very much surprised when he answered innocently, 'A man'.” – W. H. Davies

 

Born in Wales on May 19, 1871, Davies spent a significant part of his life as a hobo, both in the United Kingdom and United States while also becoming one of the most popular poets of his time.

 

Davies’ lyrical observations about life's hardships, the ways in which the human condition is reflected in nature, and his own tramping adventures – including losing a leg while trying to hop a train –  resulted in his writing a remarkable 60 books of poetry.  For Saturday’s Poem here is Davies’,

 

A Greeting

Good morning, Life - and all
Things glad and beautiful.
My pockets nothing hold,
But he that owns the gold,
The Sun, is my great friend -
His spending has no end.

Hail to the morning sky,
Which bright clouds measure high;
Hail to you birds whose throats
Would number leaves by notes;
Hail to you shady bowers,
And you green field of flowers.

Hail to you women fair,
That make a show so rare
In cloth as white as milk -
Be't calico or silk:
Good morning, Life - and all
Things glad and beautiful.