Thursday, September 17, 2009

Leisure

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 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.

1 comment:

pranabk said...

Ah, this poem is a nostalgia material for me. It was in our English textbook, in Class VIII I guess, and I seem to have taken the message with so much enthusiasm that I'm standing and staring ever since and doing little else.