Leisure by William Henry Davies

Leisure by William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

INTRODUCTION –

'Leisure' is a poem by Welsh poet, William Henry Davies. It was written and published in 1911. It is a 14 line poem divided into seven rhyming couplets. The rhyming scheme of the poem is AA BB CC DD EE FF GG. The verse points out the tensions in our hectic life and asks us to stop our work and enjoy some moments of leisure.

POET –

William Henry Davies (3 July 1871 – 26 September 1940) was a Welsh poet and writer. He is regarded as one of the Georgian writers. His contemporaries include W. B. Yeats and Ezra Pound. Also, his famous works are The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, Leisure, and Money.

SUMMARY –

LINES 1 TO 4 –

The poet reminds us of our hectic life and questions us how our life is full of care if we don't have time to stand and look around us. He asks us to take a break from this hectic and busy life. We don't have time to stand beneath the branches of trees and stare at our beautiful surroundings as the cattle do. The common animals like sheep and cows are better than us at enjoying life.

LINES 5 TO 8 –

When we pass through the woods, we don't have any time to notice how the squirrels hide their nuts in the grass. We are so busy in our life that we fail to see the sparkling water of the stream during the daylight as it resembles the stars of the night sky. Due to our lack of time, we miss all these beautiful things in the world.

LINES 9 TO 14 –

The poet next personifies natural beauty as a woman. She is dancing and has a beautiful face. Her happiness is visible in her eyes. But we lack the time and sight to be able to rejoice in this beauty. Thus our life is lacking and without care, and we need to change it. As human beings, we should spare some moments and look at nature, and natural beauty spread around us and enjoy life.

THEMES –

• Nature and its beauty – The poet tries to bring our attention to beautiful nature. He uses examples of squirrels, boughs, and even cattle for this purpose.
• Hectic Life – The poet describes how busy our life has become as we don't have time for ourselves. As human beings, we need to take a break and enjoy the nature and beauty around us.

END –

Hence, we can say that the poem gives a simple message that our life is filled with work and pressure. We need to take a break from it and relax. We should also choose to spend our time enjoying the beauty of nature.