Leisure summary

Leisure 

 - William Davies

 William Davies an American poet and singer by the means of his poem explains the biggest problem of today’s life. Each and every individual is so occupied and busy with their day to day work, to achieve the larger objectives in life that they forget to notice the smaller things in life and the happiness they can derive out of these smaller things.

The beauty of nature for example is essential to be noticed. But today nobody has the time to stop for a minute also and observe the extraordinary pleasure in ordinary things such as standing under the trees and witnessing its beauty just like the cows and sheep do. When we get up in the morning, we fail to notice that a new beautiful day is waiting for us. All we are interested in is conducting our daily jobs and work.

Human beings in fact today are similar to a machine. They get up at a fixed alarm time, reach their schools, colleges and offices on time, have their lunch, breakfast and dinner on time and today people also have separate time allotted only for their family. Can you call such an individual a human? No you cannot. That individual is obviously a machine programmed to carry out work on the allotted time

Davies strongly believes that life must be lived in a casual and leisurely manner. It is extremely essential to enjoy our free time and the little breaks we get from our work to enjoy the beauty of nature. It is essential to understand the love nature has bestowed upon us. If we are passing through the woods or trees we must notice the squirrels who are trying to hide their nuts.

We should also notice the shimmering and glittering light that is reflected in the streams at night. We should take time to notice the beautiful glance of a maiden and admire her dancing skills and the smile of her lips. If we admire the minute details and beauty of nature, we can fill our lives with joy and happiness. As a result, we will also get rid of the emptiness that has essentially become a part of our lives as a result of our fast lives.

The poet is very disheartened by the fact that today human beings are deprived of the common pleasures which are accessible to all. As a matter of fact, God has bestowed all of us with the blessing of enjoying the serene beauty of nature. We run for the whole of our lives to gain material pleasure but we should remember that we need to stop for a few moments every now and then to enjoy these material pleasures we have earned for ourselves.

Lines 1 – 2:

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

In these lines, the poet poses a rhetorical question to his readers. That is, the poet asks a question to which he does not expect anyone to reply since the answer to it is very obvious. He asks whether life has any value if man cannot find the time to take a break from his hectic schedule and stare at nature.

Lines 3 – 4:

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

In these lines, the poet starts to enumerate the aspects of nature that should capture man’s gaze while he’s taking a break from the humdrum routine he follows every single day. The poet says that man should stand beneath the shade of trees and stare at his surroundings in the same manner and for the same amount of time that farm animals like the sheep or the cow stare at theirs. In saying so, he implies that man generally has no regard for his surroundings, and does not notice it on a day to day basis.

Lines 5 – 6:

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

In these lines, the poet shows how different man is from the other creatures that god has put on the face of the earth. He says that man has no time to locate the various places in the grassy lands where squirrels hide the nuts that they like to eat at intervals while man is walking by the forests inhabited by these squirrels.

Lines 7 – 8:

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

In these lines, the poet mentions some other things that man does not have the time to indulge in. In the process of doing so, the poet remarks on how the night and the day are equally beautiful in this world. He says that the way the sunlight shines on the surface of the waves of water is similar to the way in which the stars light up the sky in the night time. However, man does not have the time to observe, either of these times.

Lines 9 – 10:

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

In these lines, the poet imagines the figure of a woman and sees her as the Beauty. However, even when this woman glances at man for a split second, man does not have the time to return the gaze. Therefore, he misses out on the opportunity to watch the woman’s feet move gracefully as she dances.

Lines 11 – 12:

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

In these lines, the poet continues to describe all the things that the woman mentioned in the previous couplet does that man does not have the leisure to look at. He says that man can at the most catch a hint of a smile as it begins to appear at the corners of her mouth. However, one is reminded at this time of a popular saying that the sincere smile is one that spreads upwards from the mouth and reaches the eyes in order to light them up. Even this momentary process is too long for man to have the patience to watch in full. Hence, he does not stop to see the smile on the woman’s lips reaching her eyes and thereby enhancing the intensity of it.

Lines 13 – 14:

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

In these lines, the pet echoes the opening couplet of the poem. He says that life is rather diminished in its quality if man cannot afford to devote some of his valuable time in simply standing still and staring at the wondrous sights of nature

The Mascots of the Olympics

                                                    The Mascots of the Olympics
Reading comprehension
A. Answer these questions
1. The Grenoble Olympic Games of 1968, had a little man in skis, called Schuss, as their mascot.
Although Schuss was not official, that was the first mascot and from the next Olympic Games held in
Munich in 1972 onwards, there has officially been an Olympic mascot for each edition of the Games.
Thus the Olympic mascot came into being.
2. The mascots are called ambassadors in Olympic Games because they signify the Olympic spirit, show case the values highlighted at each edition of the Games and promote the culture and history of the host city, besides giving the event a festive aura and welcoming the athletes and visitors from the world over.
3. The beaver, called Amik, was the mascot of the Montreal Games in 1976. The beaver appears on
several Canadian stamps and on the reverse of the Canadian five cents coin, apart from on the coat of
arms of Montreal and Kingston which hosted the sailing competitions of the Games. Therefore, the
beaver was an ideal choice for Canada.
4. The Sydney Olympics had three mascots – Syd the duck billed platypus representing water, Olly the kookaburra representing the air and Millie the spiny anteater representing earth. These mascots were examples of Australian fauna and bore the colours of the Olympic Games. The former two mascots are the official emblems of the Australian state of New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney.
5. The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens had the sister brother duo Phevos and Athena, who represented the pleasure of sports and the values of the Olympic Games, as their mascots. Phevos, another name for Apollo, the God of light and music, wore a blue tunic, being a colour of the Olympic emblem. Athena, the Goddess of wisdom and the protector of Athens, wore orange to evoke the sun.
6. Wenlock, the mascot for the London Olympics was different from the others as he was made from the last drops of steel used to build the Olympic stadium in London. His eye was the lens of a camera that filmed everything he saw and the three points on his head represented the three places on the podium for the medalists. He was employed during the Olympics to guide tourists during the Games. There were 84 sculptures of Wenlock and Mandeville the Paralympic mascot, all along the streets, parks and tube station entrances for this purpose.

B. Answer these questions with reference to the context.

1. a. Misha was the cuddly bear, the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
b. Misha bade farewell to the spectators at the end of the Olympic Games by disappearing into the
air. He was lifted up by balloons.
2. a. These five mascots were chosen because they corresponded to the five natural elements and four of them symbolized the animals found in China. Each of the mascots represented one colour of the
Olympic rings and also bore a wish.
b. Beibel, the blue fish, symbolized the water and bore the wish of prosperity. Jingiing , the black
giant panda represented the forest and his wish was happiness. Yingying, the yellow Tibetan
antelope represented earth and his wish was good health. Nini the green swallow represented the
sky and her wish was good luck. Huanhuan, was red and symbolized fire and the olympic spirit.
3. a. Cobi, the humanized Pyrenean mountain dog was the mascot of the 1990 Barcelona Olympic
Games.
b. He was represented as a cartoon “Cobi and his Troupe” to promote the Games.

C. Think and answer
1. The mascots are important because they are ambassadors in Olympic Games; they signify the Olympicspirit, show case the values highlighted at each edition of the Games and promote the culture and history of the host city, besides giving the event a festive aura and welcoming the athletes and visitors from the world over.
2. Although unofficial, Schuss, was the first mascot at the Olympic Games in 1968. Since then each
mascot has become more representative of the host country and is also getting more interactive with
the idea of helping the participants and spreading comradeship amongst them. Wenlock, the mascot
of the 2012 London Olympics Games could see with his eye which was the lens of a camera. Vinicius, the mascot for the upcoming 2016 Rio Games can imitate the sound of any animal and run faster and jump higher than any of them. Thus with the advance of science and technology, the mascots have also evolved to become more human like.