Leisure_(poem)

Leisure is a poem by Welsh poet 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 and 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.

The poem is well known and has appeared in the following anthologies.

1. Anglo-Welsh Poetry, published by Poetry Wales Press in 1984
2. Book of a Thousand Poems, published by Peter Bedrick Books in 1983
3. Common Ground, published by Carcanet in 1989
4. Oxford Book of Victorian Verse, published by OUP in 1971
5. A Poem a Day, published by Steer Forth in 1996

Modern uses

The poem has been used in television advertisements in the UK, namely Center Parcs and Orange Mobile. In 2003 it was used in a television advertising campaign and as inspiration for a medal-winning garden created by prisoners of HMP Leyhill at the Chelsea Flower Show Time to Stand and StareHMP Leyhill pick up the gold award at the Chelsea Flower Show. BBC report

External links

• WH Davies. Tramp poet and writer from Pill BBC Wales southeast.

References

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