Learn To Drive

Do make sure to give credit for poems. This one is 'Leisure' by W H Davies.

me writes: Leisure by William Henry Davies is an incredible poem about taking the time to look around and notice the beauty that every day holds. Davies does a wonderful job of opening the eyes of all those who read this marvelous work. Leisure teaches us that we need to slow our lives down and take a look around and notice the little things. It shows that we should take advantage of the little time that we have on this earth and pay attention to the little things. The word leisure derives from the Latin word licere, meaning “to be permitted” or “to be free.” Leisure, often referred to as free time, means time spent in noncompulsory activities or, more simply put, time spent at ease. There are two different types of leisure, active leisure and passive leisure. Active leisure implies a desire exert energy. You are able to do what is known as low impact, activities such as walking or yoga, or you are able to engage in high impact leisure, activities such as kick-boxing or any other sport. The other type of leisure is passive, which implies a desire to refrain from exerting energy. Basically, you just become a couch potato. The idea of leisure and leisure time are thought to have emerged in the late nineteenth century. This was the time where there was a rise in the mechanized industry. Machines made work much more efficient, and the typical work day was cut by over twenty hours. As a result of this, workers increasingly took part in noncompulsory activities such as sports or theater. Day after day life is becoming a bit faster paced. It’s as if we are becoming cogs in a wheel unable to do anything except the same old routine. If only we could somehow break free of this mundane schedule and take notice to what is going on around us. It’s as though all of our time we spend awake, we also spend thinking about that which causes us one worry or another. We keep such tight knit schedules that we barely have time to ourselves or for our own family. In the poem, Leisure, the first two lines say, “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?” This is asking, what good is life if we don’t take the time to stand and look at what’s going on around us? Why don’t we take the time to look at the little things? We never wake up and gaze at the beauty of the first rays of the sun shining down. When the sun goes down and night takes over we don’t look up and admire the moon or the twinkling stars. We just go on with our fast paced lives as though it is nothing special, when in reality it is a magnificent creation like a work of art hanging in a museum. William Henry-Davies lived the life of an urban squalor. His father passed away when he was only two years old. Davies then had to live a life of poverty. He knows first hand how it is to take life for granted. Through this poem, Leisure, and many other poems that he has written, he is able to express the way he feels about events that have taken place in his life. He knows first hand that you need to slow down and take a look at things around you because life goes by fast and you don’t want to miss a thing. It says in lines five and six, “No time to see, when woods we pass, where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.” This is saying, again, how we don’t ever seem to take the time to see the world around us. Why do we have to travel down the road and not look at what we pass? We should take the time to recognize the world around us and see what’s going on. One day we might have something or someone, and the next their gone. I, personally, got a lot out of this poem because it opened my eyes to see what was going on around me. Lately, me and many others have been sitting with seat back in cruise control watch life pass us by. If people do that, then they will miss so many details of their lives. We all get so caught up in the ways of the world that we become emotionally blind to what’s actually going on. We focus so much time on the things that bring us troubles and not enough time on what makes us happy. We need to take advantage of our free time. Leisure should be something that is put to great use. Do something that expands your mind for instance or something active to strengthen your heart. How long has it been since the last time you stopped near a flower or plant to admire the beauty of it? Perhaps there is a butterfly delicately floating over them, did you ever take notice to that? If you took notice to these things they could possibly brighten your day, or just make you feel a little bit better inside. If you are emotionally blind you will never notice the feeling that these nice things can give you. You will just pass by them and act as though nothing is going on. You see kids frolicking and having fun in the mud and it makes you smile, but immediately your mind takes you back to the meetings, deadlines, and schedules that you seem to have to maintain. Why the rush? Why the madness? We run around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off. We should take the time to stop and smell the roses. Take, perhaps, a time out from life. Whey can we not admire life in its totality and experience the rich and amazing beauty that is all around us? In lines eleven and twelve it says, “No time to wait till her mouth can enrich that smile her eyes began.” This is saying that we can’t even take the time to enjoy the smile of another person. Why? Because we are too caught up in where we have to be next and what we are doing ten minutes from now. Isn’t it time that we just empty our minds for sometime and let the beauty of little pleasures of life fill it? Life would be much more worthwhile and fulfilling if we can take time out and flush out our minds. Every once in a while it’s good to just let your mind wander. It’s unhealthy and can actually take time off of your life if you constantly worry about everything that is going on in your life. We just need to sit back and relax sometimes. Maybe it’s about time to ask the question; Do we want to be like machines made up of nuts and bolts or do we want to be human beings made up of feelings and emotions? Are we going to want to be cogs stuck in a wheel, doomed to repeat the same pattern? Life would be meaningless if we didn’t take the time to appreciate it.

Anonymous writes: wow:love:

great comment by Me..I am eager to know about Me..I have signed up just now and will get back once I get my confiramtion link to log in..This comment is great milestone in my life...I had mistaken the poet to be Wordsworth today..it was because of surfing I got to know its Davies and your comment made me remember this poem for my life

Prof Shinde,India

Claw writes: thanks a lot dude! that was some awesome info. u got there! u can get full marks in exams wit dis! thanx :-] :-) :) ;-]

Anonymous writes: that was great idea

DAOT writes: that was great idea!!!

ms.ice writes: seems that your inspired answering all of those things??

DAOT writes: me too don't have any leisure time..hahay...seems so sad..

COOL writes: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LEISUUUUUUUUUUREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous writes: To be honest I can't figure out the meaning of lines 11-12, "No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began." The only interpretation that occurs to me is a lewd one ('spare the conversation, just give me a blowjob') but I doubt that's what the author had in mind... Any ideas?

Anonymous2 writes: hju90909poj9uj9op

lulu writes: thx a lot u saved me a whole SA to write xxneither sided

Anonymous writes: what i perceive the lines 11-12 mean that the beauty of nature starts from spring and reaches its culmination in the midst of spring season.

Anonymous writes: Lines 11-12 are not about a blowjob, you crude idiot! They are talking about smiling- one of the most beautiful parts of life. Haven't you heard the term "smiling with her eyes"? He is talking about the moment when a person is about to smile. Their face lights up and it is truly amazing when, at last, their mouth turns up and illuminates our dreary world.

Anonymous writes: god I hate this bloody poem it just pisses me of, like all poems actually but my country seems to think that it is necersary for all of us to study english lit

Rani Joseph writes: if u r too busy running around with ur life then the best remedy is this really awesome poem by William Henry Davies.Its not like we r deliberately missing those wonderful experiences that mother nature has for us, its just that we , the blooming generations do not really have such a peaceful atmosphere to notice and widen our visions to STARE! Today even a 3-year old is too busy to admire the fairy tale that the nature has to offer her......

Anonymous writes: tink dis poem is ded hard and propa boss. ye get me braaap. shout owt to all ma girlz lv yooh xoxo

Anonymous writes: ahh nice 1 bird 4 da bigg shout owt u keep reppin it LY2 xoxo

Anonymous writes: I am studying this poem and whish to choreograph a dance peice on it, I want to know what people think the different lines mean, so all interpritation would be helpful, e.g i think lines 1-2 means bla bla :) please help :) thanks

seajay writes: Go back to nature for any ultimate solution. Please, don't pile up your life with the stuffs that blurrs existence but with the things of nature as a thing of beauty is a joy foreever.

Anonymous writes: WOW That big paragraph about the poem is a brilliant way to acknowledge this poem!

Anonymous writes: Ah i have to do a contemporary dance to this poem as well.. Not too sure how to structure it though...

Anonymous writes: i have to an option whether to choreograph and A level dance on this nad need some ideas on what to dance about...obviously the poem is the base line but i have to come up with soemthing that relates to the poem and need some help.....??

Anonymous writes: I am doing this poem for my AS dance choreo and i found a good quote to base mine on so i would suggest trying that :) good luck!!!

Anonymous writes: THANKS FOR GIVING A WONDERFUL DESCRIPTION OF THE POEM...

Anonymous writes: awsome poem really opened my eyes

Anonyme writes: waw!it's an eye opening poem,really i deeply thank the poet

Anonyme writes: leisure is a nice poem dealing with a touching field of life

odonna writes: I found W.H Davies looking for Adcock's in England. Reading SUPERTRAMP now. He has lowered my stress , lovely.

GoodBoy writes: Can any1 write the summary of it

Goldrood writes: Leisure - is a gentle promotion of the 'slow life' we have slow cooking now with more people working part time or even redundant we have time to have more leisure time. But rushing around filling it with computer games, social networking etc is not the solution. Davies advocated appreciating the seasons and the natural world. In the poem 'Beauty' stands for Mother Nature - something ever changing and out of our control yet fascinating if we allow ourselves time to become childlike and be awed by the world outside our manmade environment.