By: William Henry Davies Leisure 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 board daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. O 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

What is this life if, full of care, Stanza one: 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. Vocabulary: Stare: to look for a long time especially when surprised or frightened Beneath: under Boughs: branches and trees

Paraphrase: In the first stanza, the poet asks a question; what good in life if we don’t have enough time to simply stop and look at the interesting 5things around us? Life is not complete if we cannot stand under a tree to stand and stare at the lovely things around us.

aa bb Literary terms: 1-Alliteration: 2-Rhyme Scheme: Line 2 We have no time to stand and stare *The “s” sounds are repeated in these two words ”stand” and “stare” and give musical effect. 2-Rhyme Scheme: aa bb

Stanza two: No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass, No time to see, in board daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. Vocabulary: Woods : forests squirrels : small animals that live among trees Streams : small rivers

Paraphrase: In stanza two, the poet gives more examples of what we could stare at and really see, if we had enough time. Instead, without taking time in life, we cannot stop and see where squirrels hide their food in the grass and trees. We also cannot see the streams which, in the sunlight, sparkle and look like the night sky that is full of shinning stars. He is giving these examples to get the reader to appreciate the beautiful nature around him/her.

cc dd Literary terms: 1-Alliteration: 3-Simile: 4-Rhyme Scheme: Line 1 No time to see, when woods we pass, *The “t” sounds are repeated in these two words ”time” and “to” and give musical effect. *The “w” sounds are repeated in these words ”when” and “wood” and “we” to give musical effect 3-Simile: Line 4 Streams full of stars, like skies at night. *The sparkling streams is compared to the shinning skies. 4-Rhyme Scheme: cc dd

O time to turn at Beauty’s glance. Stanza three: O 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 Vocabulary: Turn at: observe Enrich: make something more enjoyable

Paraphrase: The poet wants to have time to look at the beautiful things on this Earth. The beautiful nature of Earth has become like a dancer. The poet wishes he could have the time to watch her as she dances. Looking at the beauty of nature makes the poet smiles and fills him with happiness. The poet thinks that our lives would be sad, dull and full of sorrow and anxiety, unless we have enough time to enjoy the beauty of nature.

ee ff aa Literary terms: 1-Alliteration: 2-Personification: Line 1 O time to turn at Beauty’s glance *The “t” sounds are repeated in these two words “time” and “turn”. Line 3 No time to wait till her mouth can *The “t” sounds are repeated in these words “time” ,“till” and “to”. . Line 5 We have no time to stand and stare *The “s” sounds are repeated in these words “stand” and “star”. 2-Personification: Line 2 And watch her feet, how they can dance. Line 3 No time to wait till her mouth can Line 4 Enrich that smile her eyes began. *The poet personifies nature as beautiful girl who dances and miles. 3-Rhyme Scheme: ee ff aa

1-What is the meaning of: Questions 1-What is the meaning of: Stare, Beneath, Boughs, Woods ,squirrels ,Streams, Turn at, Enrich 2-Why does the poet think that Man must have enough time? 3-Paraphrase stanza two. 4-Pick out the literary terms in stanza three. 5-What is the idea raised in stanza one? 6-What are the literary terms in stanza two? 7-Discuss the last two lines in the poem 8-What are the literary terms in stanza one?