Davidson's first poems were about lovers and dragons, tigers and tiger-women. This choice of subject may reveal the poet's inclination to avoid some of the unpleasant aspects of the materialistic world in which he lived and to escape into an imaginative realm where lovers, singers, and others of acute sensibilities could be shielded from the harsh realities of an unsympathetic society. (pp. 42-3)

"The Valley of the Dragon" … is typical. Filled with images of "colored flies on honeyed errands," "golden sunsets," "silver moons," "thatch so kind … against the cold and rain," and "Love's low breathing," it is a romantic tale of an idyllic love that flourished in a land where the lovers are shielded "from the serpent-thoughts of men."…

The Tiger poems follow the same pattern. (p. 43)

In these poems the poet's dissatisfaction with his predicament is evident, as is his desire to escape the restrictions of a...