Welsh poet, W. H. Davies, was a very hard worker and if you listen to recordings of him reciting this poem online it’s dramatic and serious, as you might expect for a poem published in 1911 that warns of a poor life without leisure. I went in a different direction, focusing on what that leisure might feel like - more of a song to play while relaxing on the porch.
Hope you have a chance to turn off and do a little staring. (Complete poem below)
🌳🤩🐿
Leisure
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 is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
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