LEISURE Poem, Summary, Theme, Foundation Grid
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.
Summary
This sonnet
“Leisure” is written by William Henry Davies. In this poem the poet describes
that in the life we don’t have time to stare the nature. He protests against
the busy life. The man is working like a machine and making pots of money. He
has changed delight with despair, rest with race, and life with no life.
There is no
time to stand below the boughs to see cows or sheep and to see squirrels in the
woods. He condemns the lack of leisure in mans’ life. The life is meaningless
with no enjoyment. There is no peace and harmony. We pass by sparkling streams
and miss to witness their beauty. We don’t wait for smile to enrich. The poet
winds up by saying that what a pity life this is if this full of care.
Foundation Grid
Central Idea:
Modern man
has no spare time to enjoy the beauty of nature.
Sonnet:
It consists
of 14 lines.
Heroic couplet:
The poem has
pairs of two lines with same rhyming words.
Simile:
“as sheep”
“like stars
at night”
Personification
“Beauty” is
personified by the writer.
“feet of
beauty” “smiling face”
Alliteration:
“stand and
stare”
“streams
full of stars”
Like skies
at night
Rhyming scheme:
aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, ff, gg,
Imagery:
Sheep and cows, squirrels, sky, trees,
flowers, woods, day light, grass, dancing girl
Style:
Musical,
simple, thought provoking
Theme
The theme of
the poem is that we have no time to appreciate the beauty all around.
Simile:
The streams
are like shinning stars at the night.
Rhyming words:
Care, Stare
Bought, Cow
Pass, Grass
Daylight,
Night
Glance,
Dance
Can, Began
Vocabulary words
Stare To look at
something for a long time
Beneath Under something
Boughs A branch of tree
Stream A current of water
Glance A sudden look
Enrich To make rich
Leisure A free time
Paraphrasing
Verse # 1
What if this
life is full of care where we’ve no time to stand and stare?
Verse 2
We have no
time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows.
Verse # 3
We’ve no
time to see the woods when we pass, where squirrels hide their nuts in grass
Verse # 4
In broad
daylight, we’ve no time to see streams that are full of stars like skies at
night.
Verse # 5
We’ve no
time to turn at beauty’s glance to watch her dancing feet.
Verse # 6
We’ve no
time to wait for her mouth to enrich the smile that her eyes began.
Last verse
This is a
poor life if full of care where we’ve no time to stand and stare.
About the poet
William
Henry Davies was born on July 3, 1871, Newport, Monmouth shire, Wales. He died
on Sept. 26, 1940, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, His father died when he was 3
years old. After his mother’s remarriage, Williams’s grandparents raised him.
After their death, William spent most of his life as homeless person or tramp
in United States and United Kingdom. He ended up as a popular and inspirational
poet after venturing on many jobs. W H Davies poems’ main themes are suffering,
the natural world, and city life. There are his 20 collections of poetry. A few
of them are:
The Soul’s Destroyer and Other Poems (1905)
Nature Poems and Others (1908)
Foliage (1913),
The Bird of Paradise and Other Poems (1914).
Much of his
work is featured in Oxford and international literary platforms.
