At My Leisure

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I felt like Maria Von Trapp when I took the younger dogs, Inca and Malachi, for a walk on the top fields today, but no, I didn’t sing “The Sound of Music”. Instead of singing I simply followed the dogs’ lead and, now and then, I just sat down on the grass, or lay on the grass, and soaked up the beauty of the day. We didn’t talk, we just sat and stared. Sometimes we had a hug or a snuggle up close but the main thing was that we were communing with nature.

It was the most relaxing two hours or more that I’ve had in a long time. As we walked back to the farmhouse I remembered one of my favourite poems (that we were forced to learn to recite when we were at primary school in Australia) – it’s called “Leisure” by the Welsh poet William Henry Davies.

Leisure – Poem 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 is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

 

4 thoughts on “At My Leisure”

  1. Omg
    .this is so spooky…I am doing an ou course on mindfulness and I quoted this very same poem only a couple of days ago!

    • And I bet you could recite at least two verses! Isn’t it funny? But people aren’t so very dissimilar really…

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