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.
Leisure by William Henry Davies
Today once I'd put some washing out and used the cross-trainer and exercise bike and had a shower I spent the morning doing bits of this and that and very little else. It's been a beautiful day: a day for pottering; for drinking coffee and reading in the sun; for going and getting a few more plants; and for planting them. I have just done enough to assuage any feeling of guilt I may have had because for most of the time it's been a day for taking a leaf out of WHD's book.
Today I am thankful for being able to stand and stare with all that that brings.
Amen to that :) and thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteIt was on your blog I first came across this poem four years ago. Loved it then, and still do! (There are reasons why I remember, it was in one of the first posts I read on your blog.)
Gosh. Where did the last few days go? I'm just responding to comments on Thankful Thursday and it was the last post I wrote. Monica I knew that if anyone remembered me mentioning - though not showing in full - that poem it would be you. I hadn't realised, though, that it was around that time that you started reading the blog.
DeleteI love this, and I do a lot more of watching and enjoying nature since I retired. Otherwise I would have missed seeing baby robins in the evergreen just outside my kitchen window! This afternoon was spent playing dominoes with a friend who's older than I am. That's hard to come by nowadays!
ReplyDeleteNorma I think that it's good for us to stand and stare occasionally. I haven't played dominoes for a while. It's a really good game.
DeleteMe too. I am so grateful that I have the time to do that. Although, even when I was working, the Saturday morning dead-heading roses also brought those moments of absolute enjoyment at the simplest of things.
ReplyDeleteLisa I always had problems with the fact that the Lewis Sabbatarians regarded gardening on the Sabbath a sin against God. I always regarded gardening as a joy and a relaxation and a celebration of all that lived. When I worked and only had Sundays for relaxation I resented the fact that my most relaxing hobby (even though hard physically sometimes) was denied to me.
DeleteI must do some laundry today. I've been doing far too much standing and staring.
ReplyDeleteAdrian you have it down to a fine art but you also make the most of it in using it to acquire material for all the hours you spend in mental exercise working out computer programmes to manipulate that material.
DeleteThis just makes me smile for so many reasons. :^)
ReplyDeleteThanks Cynthia. You smile a lot these days. That's good.
DeleteThis was a nice reminder that we should all stop and smell the roses every now and then. As the youngsters say here now "Chillax" (a blend of chilling out and relaxing).
ReplyDeleteSometimes these kinds of days are the best. Glad you got some new plants. Loved the poem.
I'm glad you had a good day.
Thanks Virginia. Chillax. Hmm. I must remember that.
Deletethat poem remindsme of the ne that goes:
ReplyDelete"Oh fat white woman, whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much, and so much?"
I've forgotten who wrote it, and haven't got time to leave this page and Goggle it. Solicitor appointment calls...
Frances the author is your namesake, Frances Cornford.
Delete"To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train"
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
O fat white woman whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
When the grass is soft as the breast of doves
And shivering-sweet to the touch?
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
Poems (Hampstead: Priory Press, 1910
I like it.
You should NEVER feel guilty for not doing stuff, Graham (as long as your not doing something would be harmful to someone else, which I trust it can't really be).
ReplyDeleteMeike I think you have hit the nail soundly on the head with your sentence in parentheses.
DeleteSo, your time in Lewis is your down time, right? Not that you don't work around the place, but you are not playing croquet, or going on expeditions, or having get-togethers with your besties.
ReplyDeleteBreathe deep. New Zealand is right around the corner!!!
Sort of, Lisa. Usually I have CJ staying at this time of year and more visitors than I've had so far this year. I also usually go away to the mainland more than I've done this year. I'm having a much quieter time this year whilst I'm in Scotland. It'll get busier and then I'll be back in New Zealand and into the croquet season once more.
DeleteLove that poem and do try to live by it. Having the time to indulge oneself in this way is one of the (few) rewards of old age, I figure.
ReplyDeleteSorry Pauline I didn't respond to your comment earlier although I did see it. Yes, time to indulge oneself is a huge reward at our time of life.
Delete