Taith Cerdded

We were on our annual walk this morning. Ostensibly it is a sponsored walk for the Welsh School but we mainly enjoy the walking and talking. It has been on nearby Hampstead Heath in recent years. It is not normally this late but the weather was so pleasant out there no one complained. The Autumn colours are wonderful. Whenever I go on the Heath I think to myself I must use it more. Perhaps I will. We always see someone famous up there. Last year it was broadcaster Melvyn Bragg. This time it was the actor and comedian Les Dannis. More on the heath here. And here. London Welsh School here. And here.

Short Poem 07

Coburn, Alvin Langdon, 1882-1966 Photographer, Public domain USA,
via Wikimedia Commons

Thinking of poets from my home area I thought of W H Davies from Newport, where I was born, who is remembered chiefly for two lines he wrote that begin the poem Leisure. He was also the author of The Autobiography of a Supertramp relating his exoperiences tramping around the American continent. See Wikipedia article here.

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.