by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940)
Language: English
Our translations: GER
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stand 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 stars at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
...
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Composition:
- Set to music by Richard Stöhr (1874 - 1967), "Leisure", op. 104a (Ten Songs) no. 5 (1944), published 2015, stanzas 1-5,7 [ voice and piano ], unpublished; manuscript at Saint Michael's College Archives and available in scanned form at the Petrucci Music Library
Text Authorship:
- by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940), "Leisure", appears in Songs of Joy and Others, first published 1911
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Muße", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 107