A Vagrant's Life

A Vagrant's Life written by William Henry Davies

Nature Poems (1908)

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What art thou, Life, and what am I?
Here, every day that passes by
Doth prove an idle, empty cheat;
And hint at some false scheme to meet
The coming day and get more mirth -
Which will pass by with no more worth.
1 fear to give one thing my heart,
That Death or Absence may us part;
And 'tis a misery to live
Alone, and have much love to give.
I envy oft that vagrant poor:
He has no landlady next door;
For beauty he has ne'er a care -
More happy bald than with much hair;
He has no child to save gold for,
No patriot's love calls him to war;
No house to burn, no ship to sink,
No wish for fame; no cause to think
Of landlord, rent, or decent cloth;
No wish for Pleasure's hall : in sooth,
With a plain crust, the Sun o'erhead,
Some straw at night to make his bed,
And drinking water, on his knee,
That is the life for him - and me.

This work is in the public domain in countries where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.