"Leisure" by William Henry Davies

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 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.

Enjoy "Leisure" with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/iaaiw-Anef0

Who wrote the poem "Leisure"?

William Henry Davies (July 3, 1871 - September 26, 1940)

William Henry Davies was a Welsh poet and writer. Although he spent much of his earlier life as a poor traveller in the UK and US, he later became one of the most popular poets of his time. After his father died when he was 3 and his mother remarried the next year, Davies was raised by his grandparents. He attended school until age 14 and was a delinquent boy. His grandmother then signed him up for 5 year apprenticeship to a local picture frame maker, which he never liked. At age 22, he went to New York and drifted across the US and Canada, train hopping and casually laboring. After he lost his right leg below the knee from 1899 train hopping injury, Davies returned to Wales and settled in London, where he devoted his time to writing poetry. The main themes in his poems are life's hardships, the human condition reflected in nature, and city life.

 

Leisure (Poem)

"Leisure," first published in 1911, became Davies's best known poem. It reminds busy modern people of the importance to have some free time in nature. It was said to be strongly influenced by William Wordsworth's sonnet "The World Is Too Much with Us." 

"Don't Quit" (Keeping Going) by Edgar Albert Guest

  

"Don't Quit" (Keep Going)

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must — but don’t you quit.

 

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow —

You may succeed with another blow.

 

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man,

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor’s cup,

And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

 

Success is failure turned inside out —

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit —

It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Enjoy "Don't Quit" with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/aw0v5D6IJfg

Who wrote the poem "Don't Quit"?

Edgar Albert Guest (August 20, 1881 – August 5, 1959)

 Edgar Albert Guest was a British-born American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote 11,000 poems which were syndicated in 300 newspapers. He became known as the People's Poet because his poems were easy to read and had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life with such themes as family, work, children, and God.

The most likely candidate for being the author of "Don't Quit" is Edgar A. Guest. The poem, initially entitled "Keep Going," was first published under the name of Edgar A. Guest in the newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, on March, 1921. As the poem later appeared in many journals in the early 1920's, somehow the title turned into "Don't Quit" (sometimes "Never Quit") and Guest's name vanished with the authorship often incorrectly given to the submitter, causing confusion as to the authorship. Even the poem itself had been modified and handed down from generation to generation. Some sources suggest that the poem was written by John Greeleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 - September 7, 1892), an American Quaker poet and passionate abolitionist.

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

 

"If"

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Enjoy "If" with beautiful music

Poem Video 👇

https://youtu.be/ifwpaEPIijA

What is Rudyard Kipling best known for?

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 - January 18, 1936)

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, novelist, and poet. He was one of the most popular writers in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in India, and his work including "The Jungle Book" showed much Indian influence. 

Why did Rudyard Kipling write "If"?

Kipling wrote the poem in 1910 as a father's wish for his 12 year old son. 5 years later, his only son died during WWI, reportedly attacking German army with a head injury in September 1915 during the Battle of Loos. 

"Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann

"Desiderata"

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
 
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
 
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
 
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
 
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
 
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
 
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
 
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
 
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
 
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Enjoy "Desiderata" with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/nghJfhzGoNA

Who really wrote Desiderata?

Max Ehrmann (September 26, 1872 - September 9, 1945)

Max Ehrmann was an American writer, poet, and attorney.

His parents immigrated to the US from Bavaria, Germany in the 1840's. After studying philosophy and law at Harvard University, Ehrmann returned to his hometown of Terre Haute, Indianna, in 1898 to practice law. After serving as a deputy state's attorney in Vigo County, Indianna for two years, he worked in various businesses until age 40, when he became a writer. He wrote Desiderata at age 55. The great poem, however, became widely known only after his death.