Quote#Death
The collier's wife had four tall sons
Quote byW. H. Davies · 1871–1940
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "The Collier's Wife", in The Bird of Paradise and Other Poems (1914).
English (original)
The collier's wife had four tall sons Brought from the pit's mouth dead, And crushed from foot to head
— W. H. Davies
More from W. H. Davies
From my own kind I only learn How foolish comfort is
Sweet Stay-at-Home, sweet Well-content, Thou knowest of no strange continent; Thou hast not felt thy bosom keep A gentle motion with the deep; Thou hast not sailed in Indian seas, Where scent comes forth in every breeze.
Autumn grows old: he, like some simple one, In Summer's castaway is strangely clad
Thou shalt not laugh, thou shalt not romp, Let's grimly kiss with bated breath; As quietly and solemnly As Life when it is kissing Death.
They sniffed, poor things, for their green fields, They cried so loud I could not sleep: For fifty thousand shillings down I would not sail again with sheep.
What sweet, what happy days had I, When dreams made Time Eternity!