W. H. Davies’s “The East in Gold” catches a speaker at first light, listening to a farm cock crow and then to what sounds like ten thousand birds. Their noise is so wild and happy that he imagines an angel has brought a bin of golden grain to rouse them. He cannot sleep through the commotion, so he goes outside into the green morning and discovers why the birds are making such a din: the eastern sky is blazing with the rising sun. What he feels is childlike wonder. A restless early waking turns into a moment of pure delight, as if the whole world is announcing the day. The mood is fresh, warm, and slightly awed — an ordinary May morning transformed by light and sound. The gold of the imagined grain and the gold of the sunrise come together, making the early hour feel rich and full of promise.
The East in Gold — Summary
Somehow this world is wonderful at times, As it has been from early morn in May ; Since first I heard the cock-a-doodle-do,
Timekeeper on green farms — at break of day.
Soon after that I heard ten thousand birds, Which made me think an angel brought a bin
Of golden grain, and none was scattered yet — To rouse those birds to make that merry din.
I could not sleep again, for such wild cries. And went out early into their green world ;
And then I saw what set their little tongues To scream for joy — they saw the East in gold.