A couple of weeks ago I read an article that spoke about how we no longer allow or teach children to relax and do nothing. We are all on the go 24/7 and at some point our batteries need a recharge.
This reminded me of an instances a few years ago:
As I walked I saw in the distance my friend Martin, unusually Martin had two dogs with him. “Where has the other dog come from?” I asked Martin, as we drew level.
“She belongs to my son in law and I think she suffers from dementia.” This seemed a strange diagnosis to make and I asked why.
“Well she sometimes just stands and stares.”
I found this odd as something that I do on a regular basis was being used as a diagnosis for dementia, also the phrase “stands and stares” took me back, back a long time, a time when at school I had read and learned a poem entitled “Leisure” written in 1911 by W H 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 and 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 until her mouth can
Enrich the smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.
When I first read the poem I had no real understanding of its meaning but what did attract me was the sound and rhythm of the words, this had stuck in my mind. The language was just beautiful to listen to, but what would you expect from a Welshman, the Welsh know how to use language, just listen to Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas’s “Under Milkweed” and you will understand what I mean.
Later, I came to appreciate the warning that the words held, a message that to live a life dominated by the pressures of modern living will have a detrimental affect on your spirit.
These pressures are all related to time and the perceived need to be constantly available. Davies realised that the impact of the speed of modern life would not be good.
However, what is most interesting is that Davies took his inspiration from a sonnet by Wordsworth, a sonnet that Wordsworth had written in 1802 entitled “The World is too much with us”.
Wordsworth’s sonnet was also a warning of the perils of the industrial revolution and with its words “late and soon” and “getting and spending” we come to realise that little in life changes and that Wordsworth was able to make a sobering comment upon our life in the 21st century.
Just maybe, we should all take some time to stand and stare, to slow down the pace a little bit, to appreciate our surroundings, to relish the quiet moment.