Poem Leisure (William Henry Davies) Summary Imp Qs Ref Explanation
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Poem
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.
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.
William Davies:
William Davies was born in 1871 and died in 1940. After serving as apprentice to a picture-frame maker, he tramped through the U.S. crossed the Atlantic many times on cattle boats, became a pedlar and street-singer in England and late in life, published his first volume of poems "The Soul's Destroyer and other Poems", in 1905. This was followed by "Nature Poems and Others", in 1908. Davies was something of a recluse and the man was never as well known to the public as his work which achieved great popularity. What distinguishes his work from of his Georgian contemporaries is the truth and simplicity of his lyrics.
William Davies was born in 1871 and died in 1940. After serving as apprentice to a picture-frame maker, he tramped through the U.S. crossed the Atlantic many times on cattle boats, became a pedlar and street-singer in England and late in life, published his first volume of poems "The Soul's Destroyer and other Poems", in 1905. This was followed by "Nature Poems and Others", in 1908. Davies was something of a recluse and the man was never as well known to the public as his work which achieved great popularity. What distinguishes his work from of his Georgian contemporaries is the truth and simplicity of his lyrics.
Idea of Poem:
As the title of the poem suggests, it is about the availability of time for relishing the various delights of life. These may range from the most ordinary everyday pleasure of simply staring at things, to the extra-ordinary, like turning "at Beauty's glance". The poet is lamenting the rush and hurried manner in which we spend our lives depriving ourselves of savouring the richness and diversity that life offers. He feels that life must be relished in a leisurely manner--the repetition of the line: "We have not time to stand and stare", emphasizes the poet's basic idea.
As the title of the poem suggests, it is about the availability of time for relishing the various delights of life. These may range from the most ordinary everyday pleasure of simply staring at things, to the extra-ordinary, like turning "at Beauty's glance". The poet is lamenting the rush and hurried manner in which we spend our lives depriving ourselves of savouring the richness and diversity that life offers. He feels that life must be relished in a leisurely manner--the repetition of the line: "We have not time to stand and stare", emphasizes the poet's basic idea.
Leisure
This poem is a criticism of a busy life on modern man. The poet has used examples from our daily life to make his point clear and significant. The poem expresses poets feelings on a needless dedication of man for worldly affairs. The poet says that this life has no use of we don't get time to see the beauty spread all around us.
Summary
The poem is a rhymical flow of repeated words "No time" which creates a sweet impression. The poet poses a question at the start of the poem. He says that what could be the use of life if it is full of worries and anxiety. This life is miserable if we fail to get time for leisure. The poem depicts that we are always tackling with the world's problems without considering the beautiful things around us. We have no time to stand and watch beautiful objects that nature has made for us.
We have no time to stand under the trees like buffaloes and cows do. We have no time to see the beautiful birds, animals, trees, and flowers around when we pass through the woods. We ignore the little squirrel hiding its nuts in grass. We just walk hurriedly absorbed in our business.
The streams of clear water create beautiful scene reflecting the sunshine. They just look like a starry sky at night. The poet has used a simile to compare the beauty of streams with that of a starry night. All this is ignored because we cannot get time to see all this. Then the poet uses personification for the beauty and says that we miss its dance. In fact, the poet wants to convey is that beauty is beauty itself. We are deprived of such pleasant sights due to lack of time.
The poet mourns over our such harsh attitude towards nature and natural things. We have become machines and have no emotions left in us. We have become mechanical and formal. We are running after the money and fame but the real life exists in nature. We should spare some time to watch the beautiful things spread around us.
Important Questions
Question No 1. "William Davies laments the hurried manner in which we spend our lives depriving ourselves of savouring the richness and diversity that life offers" - Discuss with reference to his poem "Leisure".
Ans. William Davies laments in his poem "Leisure" about the hurried manner in which we spend our lives depriving ourselves savouring the richness and diversity that life has to offer. He is sorry for the modern man who is so much absorbed in his material pursuits that he hardly finds any time to see the colors and hear the sounds of life. Nature and manifestations of nature are lying bare and open for us everywhere but we have closed our eyes for these. These are trees and plants. There are squirrels in the woods. There are brightly shinning waves in the stream. There are twinkling stars in the sky. Beauty "itself" is present. It is looking at us with its sweet glance. Its eyes are smiling and its lips are also going to smile. Its feet are going to dance. But we are so strange persons that we do not have any leisure or spare time to see the "beauty incarnate" and enjoy seeing it!
We are passing a very poor life because we may have collected a lot wealth, still we lack the appreciation of beauty that lies bare for us everywhere in the world. We are always busy in getting and spending money and do not look at (and enjoy) nature which is "ours" as Wordsworth has put it in one of sonnets. According to Davies, life is nothing but a constant care and worry if we are unable to find leisure for standing and staring at nature and its manifestations like simpleton. Life must be enjoyed and relished and appreciated in a leisurely manner.
Question No 2. Bring out the hidden qualities of the poem "Leisure" by, William Davies. Or Critical Appreciation of the Poem.
Ans. The poem "Leisure" is a thought provoking poem. It deals with the beauty of nature that is spread all around us. The poet deplores the sad fact of the life of the modern man that he has got no time to stand for a while and enjoy the beauty of nature which is present everywhere all around him. He is so busy in his material pursuits that he is unable to enjoy the smile and dance of Beauty incarnate that is present there all the time in his neighborhood. So he may be having collected a lot of material wealth, yet he is mentally and spiritually very poor.
The theme of the poem is very serious and is has been expressed in a very sentimental and straightforward manner. The poet is very sincere in his appeal and the appeal at once influences our inner-self. The imagery of the nature in general has been used to make the theme more clear to us. The grass, the forest, the squirrel, the nuts, the stream, the daylight, the stars, the sky - the beauty incarnate - supply a rich imagery to the poem "Beauty" has been personified and different details have been sweetly and influentially added to the metaphor. Feet, lips, smile, dance - all make the beauty fully embodied.
It is short lyric that gives expression to the personal and serious but tender ideas of the poet. The meter of poem is fully suited to the ideas. Both have a natural flow. The poem has been written in iambic tetrameter. Each line consists of eight syllabus, i.e., four feet and most of the lines are end-stopped, without enjambment. Every odd and even lines are rhymed (like a heroic couplet). Most of the words used in the poem are monosyllabic, such as each word of the first and the last couplet:
What is this life of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
and A poor life this, if full of acre,
We have no time to stand and stare.
The basic vocabulary of the poem is simple and most of the words have taken from the common world of nature that surrounds us at all times of our life. The poem may be compared to a sonnet or William Wordsworth entitled "The World is Too Much With Us."
Question No 3. What are some of the simple delights we miss in our rushed life?
Ans. There are many simple delights that we miss in our rushed modern life. We do not enjoy the colorful birds, fish, cows, sheep, goats, buffaloes and other animals. We do not enjoy seeing beautiful butterflies. We miss the sweet green tress. We miss the sun, the stars, the moon. We miss the sweet songs of the bird. We miss the blue sky and the green forest. We miss so much in our life which we may enjoy if we keep our eyes open and get spare time for that. There is the universe with all its beauties. There are the changing seasons. There are the colors and smells of the flowers. There are the tastes and colors of the fruit. There is the whole animal and plant world. There are so many things that we miss!
Question No 4. What are some of the things you miss because of lack of time?
Ans. As I am student and have no responsibility at my shoulders, so I do not miss much because of lack to time. On the other hand, I enjoy every sweetness of nature. I drink water and relish every draught. I eat dinner and relish morsel. I eat fruit and enjoy the separate taste of every fruit. I enjoy the sweet smell and color of every flower. I enjoy even the color and sharp design of every blade of grass made by Allah, the Almighty. I enjoy the sweet innocent face of every baby that makes me remember the Great Power of Creativity of Allah, the Kind and Merciful! I enjoy the chirping of birds. I enjoy the mewing of cats.
Still I miss the rural scene as I live in a city. I miss the green rice fields and yellow ripe wheat and mustard fields. I miss the hills and streams. I miss all those natural beauties that are not available in a big city. Sometimes I miss these things because of lack of time. I miss these because I live in a city!
Question No 5. The poet has used a personification: Can you point it out?
Ans. Yes, I can point it out. The poet has personified "beauty" and has talked about its glance, dance, feet, mouth, eyes and smile.
Question No 6. How would you define a personification?
Ans. Personification is "the impersonation or embodiment of some quality or abstraction: the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects".
Reference:
These lines have been taken from the poem “Leisure” written by William Davies.
Context:
This poem is a protest against the unnecessary commitment of man with worldly affairs. We are always in a hurry and have no leisure time to look at the beauty spread all around us. Man's miserable life brings him nothing but sadness and worries.
Explanation:
(Lines 1 – 4)
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
In these lines the poet bewails our rushed life. The poet says that we cannot call this life a pure life, if it is full of worries and anxiety. We have no time to stand at a certain place and look carefully at nature. Even we cannot spare a few moments to stand under the branches of green trees and enjoy the beautiful and restful shades of the trees. The common animals like sheep and cows are better than us in enjoying life. We cannot look at the common animals like sheep and cows grazing in the pastures. We have committed ourselves with worldly affairs unnecessarily and cannot enjoy nature and the natural beauty spread all around us.
(Lines 5 – 6)
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
In these lines the poet tells us, when we pass through some forest, we do not have time to stop for some moments to look at the trees tall and short, and enjoy their natural beauty. The dark green trees provide a soothing effect but we are always sick-hurried and cannot enjoy at least the simple beauty. Also we cannot look at the small animals like squirrels concealing their food-grain in the grass for the winter. This minor scene can also give us relief.
(Lines 7 – 8)
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
In these lines the poet says that human beings cannot see the beauty that is hidden in the streams. During day time, when the rays of the sun fall upon the clear water of the brooks, the water reflects and shines like stars in the sky during night. Sometimes water of streams, because of its clearness seems so beautiful that even stones beneath the water can be observed, which look like stars in the clear blue water. This scene also resembles the stars shining in the sky at night.
(Lines 9 – 10) & (11 – 12)
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.
The poet says we are so hard luck that we cannot watch a girl or a woman who dances in the field. The feet of the dancing girl are very attractive and bewitching but we cannot spare time to look at these feet as how they dance. This dancing girl can also amuse us with her performance. The poet also mourns that we have no time to wait for the words, the mouth of the dancing girl has to utter. As a sort of smile has appeared in her eyes but we cannot wait for such time as the words from her eyes are transferred to her lips. Those words can amuse us. In fact the poet uses personification, a poetic device to explain the natural beauty scattered all around us. The poet personifies beauty as a young beautiful dancing girl having a smiling face.
(Lines 13 – 14)
A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
In these concluding lines the poet regrets to say that ours is a poor life. In a way it cannot be life if it is full of cares and worries. Unluckily, we have no time to stand at a place and look carefully at nature that can refresh us. As such our life is nothing but lamentation through and through. As human beings we should spare some moments and look at nature and natural beauty spread around us and enjoy life.
