by William Henry Davies (1871-1940)
- 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 or 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.
- I've been cooped up indoors for the last two weeks, doing my bit to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, staying at home and protecting myself into the bargain too. I have too much information direct from the front line to know that I don't particularly want to catch this virus any day soon (if at all) and would prefer to wait until my local Intensive Care has the capacity to take me, which, because of my age, it won't at present. Too many people are being cavalier about how they take their exercise and see it as a right to go as often and as far as they damn please. They won't be so smug, when they get to their local hospital and find no room at the inn. The government's advice on exercise is their compromise to stop us all going crazy indoors, but not meant to be an excuse for a day's outing or holiday or whoop-up. We are supposed to be staying at home, where at all possible, and only going out when it is essential. Short bursts of exercise, short distances. When will people finally get the message? When it's too late?
- I have limited my exercise to doing it at home -pilates and yoga both online and from books. I have limited my fresh air to sitting outside my back door and soaking up the sunshine. But yesterday, after two weeks at home, I felt it was high time to stretch my legs just a little bit further from home. Nothing drastic, just a 40 minute walk round the block from my house, taking in the local park. Unfortunately, a lot of people failed to observe the two-metre distancing. One narrowly missed me as he thundered past on his bike. I don't think I'll repeat that in a hurry.
- As I walked, the poem above came into my mind and I took advantage of my rare outing to notice those things I normally have little time to notice. Nature is really excelling itself at the moment and the colours are amazing. What is this world, indeed, if we have no time to stand and stare..... Maybe when we get back to normal, we'll take more time to stand and stare and not hurry back to the things that distract us. If Coronavirus has taught us anything, it is to value the simple things in life.
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| London City skyline from my local park |
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| Local park woodland |
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| Bluebell woods in the park |
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| A witch's stake or the beginnings of a teepee? |
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| A mighty oak |
3 comments:
hello Addy, that s a beautiful post with the poem and flowers. I am 63 years, still young and sassy!! That's what I like to think anyway. I learnt the poem in school and it brought back good memories of my classmates and I. I am in Malaysia, also in lock down and it's more serious here, we are not allowed to leave the house. We can do grocery runs only ard 10 km radius from where we live. Stay well, I ll be checking in on you. Visit me at jom colour me in google, i am not very IT savy!!
I suspect that you appreciated the sights you saw on your walk a lot more because you have been cooped up for so long. When I have been on my long, solitary walks on the outskirts of Sheffield I have felt no guilt whatsoever. Like you I am afraid of contracting COVID 19, and if I die I want some of my last memories to be of walking in the countryside - not just of staring at these four walls. Cycling accidents, DIY incidents, poor social distancing in supermarkets and children bouncing on trampolines should be much greater concerns.
Lovely photos. I'm getting out for a few walks but too many people. On the weekend there was a young couple out walking, taking up the whole path and I had my grandson with me in a buggy as we tried to pass them. He sneezed and I coughed at the same time and they moved right out of the way. I shall cough in future to clear the pathways:)
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