No Time?

'What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?'

Our art is designed to encourage an appreciation for nature’s wonders, and this poem by W.H. Davies chimes perfectly with that goal. It is a simple invitation to pause, observe, and celebrate the beauty of the world we share.

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.

W. H. DAVIES
1871 – 1940

W.H. (William Henry) Davies was a celebrated, but now largely forgotten, poet and prose writer from Newport, Wales. He spent many years as a poor tramp in Britain and north America before finally settling down and becoming acknowledged as a talented writer.

As someone who spent years travelling the countryside on foot and sleeping under the stars, he was a passionate advocate of the simple life, and he had a great love of the natural world.

He makes numerous references to butterflies in his work, and memorably describes them in one poem as ‘Flying Blossoms’.