18 Apr 2009

The Important Things






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 is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
- William Henry Davies.

I learnt this poem when I was about eight, with my english teacher explaining it thoroughly (I have to admit, it sounded mostly like bla bla blablah, bla blah, bla blah, then) and making us write Q&A's and stuff; can't say I blame her , she was just doing her job.
But now that I have a few more brain cells (my mother is VERY surprised to hear that and is not able to accept the fact), I can truly understand and appreciate what the poet said about this being a sad life when we don't enjoy the simple pleasures that Life seems to offer.


I din't think I was much of a 'simple pleasures' person with my affinity (and strong partiality) towards Herschey's and Gucci and FastTrack and the like. But as it turns out (inspite of the fixation on The Brands) that it takes very little to make me bubble over with happiness, I hope that phrase isn't totally outdated.


Forced as I was to water my Grandma's VAST garden, I found myself liking it, even enjoying it. I love watching the squirrels flit in and out of the basin to 'steal' the groundnuts that I left there. I also love watching the drops falling of the leaves, reflected in rainbow-colors against the sun. I enjoy throwing a ball so that my dogs (fluffy balls of fur that they themselves are) can run over each other in thier rush to bring it back to me. I love fooling my sister, so that when I do give her the chocolate she asked for, I can see her grin of delight. I love the way I can bring smiles to the faces of people I love just by a simple gestures, the reason being that they love me back just as much.


And before I grow maudlin, I'll say, it took me 19 years to figure this out. But now that I have, I'll always remember what really matters.

5 comments:

  1. yup,small things do matter a great deal...you often find happiness in ways you least expect...good post and its one of my favourite poems...

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  2. life is an ongoing mystery ............
    today u realized that nature has lots installed for u but u never had the time.............
    but think abt it u had all the time .its jst that you never tried having a peek into the wild side of life .........if you had to you wud hav realized the truth abt nature a while bak ........


    you live in a patch of greenery in this large dried up earth ....... so dont waist time and make full use of ur grandmas effort

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  3. @ Kurian, Thanx, I will and nice to c ya here

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  4. Hahaha, awwh =D
    Also, you started blogging in 08? :O Whoa!
    I must've been what, erm, 8th grade, 12-13 years of age :P
    Also, lovely poem :]

    ReplyDelete

Go on, you can say it.