Leisure by W. H. Davies: A Detailed Analysis

Born from the pen of the twentieth century poet W H Davies (1871-1940), the poem Leisure embodies one of the most characteristic literary themes of the early decades of the century; that of a lament of  fragmentation of the old world order, rapid urbanization, spread of a rapid and self centered commercial culture etc., and a longing for the revival of a lifestyle with a place for nature in it.   

Divided into 7 simple rhyming couplets, the poem offers a glimpse of that treasure trove of pure bliss that we, humans, often overlook in the race of life. What is that fortune, that we possess, that we are a part of, that we fail to acknowledge while pursuing wealth and power, with vision focused only on the destination? The poet says, it’s Nature.

The initial couplet appears to be simultaneously posing to be a question and a statement. It seems to carry with it an intention to ignite an introspective spirit in the reader; to question one’s priorities, to weigh one’s mantras of success against the profits and losses in it. The poet is asking,

“What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.”

The depth of this line gets a major addendum when one recognizes its similarity to the last lines of John Milton’s On His Blindness in which Milton’s unasked question of his value to God in his state of physical disability and deprivation is answered by the personified Patience thus,

“Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Patience says that the omnipotent God values and loves not just those who, metaphorically, run over the land and ocean, but also those who “only stand and wait”. While Milton’s dilemma could be read as owing to his life’s aim being “justifying the ways of god to men”, for which he is limited by his disability that makes him suspicious of his capacity to achieve his definition of success; Leisure juxtaposes the idea with that of humans who run after success foolishly ignorant of the deluge of beauty that surrounds them and defining success as an entity achieved by the sacrifice of those prerequisites of a happy and meaningful life. Hence the poet seems to be employing the wordplay to put the question ‘What is life worth if one has too much of engagements to see the beauty around!!’

The couplets ahead reminds through its images the great moments of beauty the busy generation of people miss in the rush towards success.

“No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.”

Now, the poet is conjuring the rustic image of cows and sheep staring peacefully in a village setting, in a way reminiscent of the ‘lost good old days’ feeling, characteristic of Modernism. The poet seems to be asking ‘what is the meaning of life, of success, if you don’t have the leisure to find a moment of peace and spirituality beneath the branches of that village tree’.

“No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.”

To those of us who rush past those woods, the poet is presenting a representative image of the small yet great things that happen around, that’s both aesthetic and didactic for the seekers of a physically as well as spiritually rewarding life. The image of the squirrels hiding their nuts in the grass while a person, ignorant of them, passes the woods, brings with it a spate of such images to an imaginative mind. The lines are also a reminder of the need to prioritize the vividness and sense of satisfaction of the journey over that of the destination, which marks a culmination.

“No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars like skies at night”

The poet moves on to another glimpse of nature’s essence where, graced by the rays of sun the sparkling waters in the streams beget a beauty that is comparable to the star studded night sky. What kind of life is it that cannot witness this beauty.

“No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance."

In this couplet, if Beauty, owing to the capitalization of its first letter, is conceived as a personification, could be read as the various permutations of rhythmic movements that, like a maiden’s elegant dance moves, engender divine beauty.  

“No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.”

The poet also reminds that Beauty is not necessarily the quality of a preexisting state of things that can be experienced at a moment’s expense. It can be a process, the sublimity of which probably lies at its apogee. However, to experience the sweeter fruit of patience, one should be able to acknowledge the importance of the journey of life over the culmination of it. As if in answer to the first line, the poet says at the end,

“A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.”