Friday 22 January 2016
Leisure
Poet: W.H 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.
Q1. What are some of the simple delights we miss in our rushed life?
Q2. What are some of the things we miss because of lack of time?
The poem "Leisure" is a criticism on the sorry state of modern man. The ideas presented in the poem are thought provoking. The depth of these ideas is inspiring and motivating. William Davies rightly points out that our life is full of care. The worldly worries have snatched our freedom and we are always at the mercy of time. We cannot enjoy the beautiful scenes of sunset and sunrise. We grow blind to the beauty of the moon surrounded with the stars. The innocent pleasures of natural objects have little attraction for us. We are so much absorbed in our routine work that we pay little attention to the beauty spread around us. We are enslaved by hurry, burry and made race for success. We are enchained by our mechanical life. These things have made us sick at heart. This sickness has become deep rooted because we have compromised with it.
The world of Nature surrounding us is full of freshness and beauty. Unfortunately, this freshness and beauty goes unnoticed because we are so much engaged in our own problems. We have no leisure to enjoy the healthful atmosphere of the hilly areas. We do not observe animals and birds busy with their different activities. We do not enjoy the dancing waves on the surface of a stream which reflect sunlight and present a beautiful scene. The scene is as captivating as the twinkling of the stars in the sky. Materialism has changed our thinking. Now we do not think that " A thing of beauty is a joy for ever" but, we believe that a thing of material benefit is a joy forever.
Q3. How would you define personification? The poet has used a personification. Can you point it out?
Personification is a poetic tool in which we treat Nature, non-human things and ideas as if they had human qualities or feelings. It is man's inborn tendency to provide lifeless things with activities and passions similar to his own. The Greeks personified the forces of nature as Gods. Shakespeare addresses many non-human things as if they had human personality. Keats calls the autumn a woman reaping and gathering harvest.
In the poem "leisure" the poet has conveyed his ideas by means of colorful natural images. He has enriched these ideas with a personification of beauty.
" No time to turn at Beauty's glance
And watch her feet, how they can dance"
Beauty is neither a thing nor a person. But is is an idea. The poet, however, presents it as a person, who has eyes, feet and lips and can smile and dance. Beauty begins smiling through her charming eyes and then it gracefully run towards her lips, the poet want to say that we are so much engrossed in our daily routine that we cannot spare a few moments but stop and gaze at the beauty of the beautiful nature. The poem is full of freshness and beauty but, it ends on a sorry note. It bemoans that modern man is enslaved by the rough and tough routine of his life and has no leisure to enjoy this dancing, smiling and swinging beauty.
Reference to the context:
Q. Explain with reference to the context.
A poor life this is full of care
We have no time to stand and stare
These lines have been taken from the poem "Leisure" written by William Davies. The poem is a criticism on the sorry state of modern man. The ideas presented in the poem have deep meanings. William Davies rightly points out that our life is full of care. The worldly worries have snatched our freedom and we are always at the mercy of time. We are enslaved by hurry, worry and mad race for success. These things have made us sick at heart.
Explanation:
In the given lines the poet criticizes the modern man who has grown blind to the beauty spread around him. The world of nature surrounding him is full of beauty and freshness. But his life is full of worldly worries and cares. He has no time to stand and stare at the beauty of things surrounding all around him. He has no leisure to enjoy the healthy atmosphere of the hilly areas. The worldly worries have snatched his freedom and his life has become dull and colorless.
Q. Explain the following with reference to the context.
No time to see, when woods we pass
Where squirells hide their nuts in grass
No time to see in broad daylight
Streams full of stars, like skies at night
- These lines have been taken from the poem "Leisure" written by William Davies. The poem is a criticism on the sorry state of modern man. The ideas presented in the poem have deep meanings. William Davies rightly points out that our life is full of care. The worldly worries have snatched our freedom and we are always at the mercy of time. We are enslaved by hurry, worry and mad race for success. These things have made us sick at heart.
Explanation:
In the given lines the poet says that we are so much absorbed in our work that we cannot enjoy the beauty spread around us. We do not have enough time to observe various activities going on in the world of nature. We ignore the beauty and activities of various animals when we pass through the woods. Similarly, we do not enjoy dancing waves on the surface of a stream which reflect sunlight and present a beautiful scene. The scene is no less beautiful than the sight of the stars twinkling in the sky. The scene is so captivating. But we cannot enjoy the beauty of things and the beauty of various sights because of our busy routine work.
Q. Explain the following with reference to the context.
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
These lines have been taken from the poem "Leisure" written by William Davies. The poem is a criticism on the sorry state of modern man. The ideas presented in the poem have deep meanings. William Davies rightly points out that our life is full of care. The worldly worries have snatched our freedom and we are always at the mercy of time. We are enslaved by hurry, worry and mad race for success. These things have made us sick at heart.
Explanation:
In the given lines the poet criticizes the modern man who has grown blind to the loveliness spread around him. The poet want to say that epwe are so engaged in our daily routine work that we cannot spend a few moments to stop and gaze at the beauty of nature dancing like a beautiful woman. Here the poet has used personification for nature as a beautiful woman dancing and smiling with her charming eyes. The poet says that we have not enough time to see the smile that begins through her charismatic eyes and then gracefully runs towards her lips. Her beauty make the whole atmosphere so charming. But the modern man is deprived of such ecstatic moments of life. He is enslaved by the rough and tough routine of his life and has no leisure to enjoy this dancing, smiling and swinging beauty.
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ReplyDeleteNo time to stand beneath the boughts
And stare as long as sheep or cows
Its not boughts its "Boughs" mean main branch of tree. We have no time to stand under the tree and stare means to watch continuesly towards something..
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