My mum died last October at the age of 90. She had been suffering for eight years with dementia but even until the end much of her character remained strong and vibrant.
I wanted to read her favourite poem at her funeral but time did not allow for both the poem and my eulogy about her and what she meant to her family.
I regret not reading this poem for her so I’m putting it here instead.
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 is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
William Henry Davies (1871 -1940)
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