Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

56 | P a g e

WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES' POEM "LEISURE" STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

*Muhammad Rizwan

ABSTRACT

This exploration article expects to dissect the ideas of Davies' sonnet Leisure

according to an elaborate perspective and investigate four degrees of stylistics

examination that is graphological, linguistic, semantic and phonological. The

examination of this sonnet will be useful in investigating and making a decision about the

ideas of current man's life who passes his life under the pressures and inconveniences of

realism, disregarding the appeal and magnificence of nature.

Keywords:, Stylistics, Leisure, Graphological level, exico-syntactic level, Style, Phonological

level, Morphological level

Introduction to the Poem

W. H. Davies belongs to Wales in England and realized mankind’s fast conversion from

quaint petite planters to huge cities of development in the year 1911 with his eye-opening poem

“Leisure”. It is about materialism and its structure is very simple, and it is easy to catch ideas and

best sources for readers for interpretations and is a thought-provoking poem and solid proof of

naturalistic knowledge and a legend of modern man who always indulges in modernization and

the material world.

Theme of the Poem

The poet laments and criticizes the life of modern man who is the tuft of dull and drab

routine work, and he has no leisure time to enjoy the elements of nature which are reconciliation

and powerful sources for interpretation and observation. The poet criticizes the new man due to

his money-oriented nature and everlasting aloofness from nature. The gist of the poem is that we

should unrestraint our material hunts and generate a new interaction with naturalism. The poet

uses rhetorical language at the outset of the poem and generates new sums for his readers.

Structure of the poem

The poem is written in the couplet of two and there are seven couplets or stanzas in the entire

poem and each last word of the poem is rhymes.

*(M.Phil Scholar), Riphah University Lahore

Point of view

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

57 | P a g e

The poem is transcribed in the first person plural and the poet includes himself

with the people around him.

Setting of the poem

The poem is established in the day time and relates to the nature.

Tone and Mood

The quality of the poem is gentle and encouraging and proposes a relaxing and

positive brashness towards life. The temper of the poem couriers concern about the

current condition, the method the poem is written puts the reader in the calm

temper and encourages him to rise the benefits of relaxing.

Moral values

We should study to relax and appreciate life. If we don’t lessen more, we will have

stress-filled lives. Thanks of nature is vital in this context.

Elements of Nature

Boughs

Sheep

Cows

Squirrel

Nuts

Grass

Daylight

Stars

Night

Research Objectives

To explore the contribution of Graphology Level in the poem.

To inspect the poem at a Morphological flat.

To inspect the poem at a Phonological flat.

To assess Lexico-Syntactic Flat in the poem.

To assess how linguistic devices has been combined in the poem.

Research Questions

In what way does Davies try to explore materialism?

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

58 | P a g e

What are major approaches of Davies towards life?

Why does Davies explore the natural world?

Literature Review

Physical health is closely related to the routine of life, so it is said that hygiene is closely

related to culture. Health is closely related to human temperament and behavior. Physical health

is defined as a luxury on this basis. Are taken The study of these medical prescriptions helps in

understanding Minhaj's thought of the cultural and social life of that era. These prescriptions

offer a viable form of self-reliance and self-reliance that has cultural significance. The pain

proves to be unbearable.

Events, tragedies, ups and downs, changes and tremors that take place in the collective

life of human beings living in any society cannot be interpreted as mere coincidences or

accidents. Such situations do not arise automatically but it is a system. The rules and regulations

of social life are of such a nature that they make human beings incapable of coping with the

rapidly changing circumstances. North India and The various political, social and societal

conditions of South India have been incorporated by the ancient writers in their style and have

become a permanent reference to the history and its course of life. Ancient literature is

considered to be the most important and primary source of information about the world. The

identity of the area and the beauty of nature has become a mine. This style proved to be the

cultural heritage of the region. A heartfelt attachment to the culture and civilization of one's

homeland and a deep love for the people of North India and South India were ingrained in them.

He knew that in order to preserve civilization, it was necessary to focus on its creation, renewal

and refinement. Despite the cultural differences, there was a consensus on human values in the

region. The miraculous effect of God helped to sharpen God-given abilities and stimulate talent.

The people of Deccan loved the accents and sounds of their local language, but the

language continued to be modified and reconstructed as required. In order to live a collective life

within the special limits of their language, they maintained a reliable connection with other

languages. He made slogans and gave the creation of literature a form of continuous process of

history. The writers of that time wanted to live together with their peers and make empathy a

motto. Living together, selflessness and grief are part of human nature. Heartfelt attachment to

the culture and civilization of the homeland endows man with the potential of patriotism,

freedom of thought and action. The evolution of literature and linguistics is a manifestation of

the centenary of words which is the most important requirement of the time to look at it from a

historical perspective. The manner in which the love for the values and traditions of this region

was instilled in his subconscious is reflected in his style.

In the thirteenth century AD, after Jalaluddin Feroz Khilji, the founder of the Khilji

Empire in the subcontinent (reign: 1290-1296), Allauddin Khilji (reign: 1296-1316) came to

power. During the reign of the same king, Muslim forces reached Deccan The migration as a

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

59 | P a g e

result of this invasion also affected the linguistic process. The combination of Punjabi, Haryani

and Khadi dialects in this new language opened up new possibilities for expression and

communication. He could not stay there without Arabic and Persian language. The names by

which this new language was called in different periods of history include Hindi, Indian and

Deccan. He renamed the city of Devgari in Maharashtra as Daulatabad and made it his capital.

Those who obeyed this order of Muhammad ibn Tughlaq were provided with all the facilities of

travel expenses and accommodation and food. As a result of the orders of Muhammad bin

Tughlaq, a large number of people from Delhi and its environs migrated to Daulatabad. After the

arrival of Muslims in Maharashtra, the linguistic variations in the region intensified and the

language spoken in Maharashtra had a profound effect on Persian. The language prevalent in

northern India, which was steeped in standard literary creations, was emerging as a standard

literary language between Maharashtrian and Dravidian languages after this migration.

Research Methodology

Online classes can never change the mood of a classroom. It is not possible for the teacher to

explain, question, monitor and test the students in the classroom in offline classes. Children

need school and teachers to learn important issues such as collective ethics and attributes.

Online education has deprived students of the ethics of collective life. Students will not be

able to compete with developed countries. Because education is not the name of learning the

facts, but it is a training to enable the brain to think and practical consciousness which is

lacking in the students. No one is taking online education seriously, be it qualified students or

incompetent ones. Many students seem to be cut off from education and engaged in pointless

activities. Online classes are offering comedy scenes.

"If the teacher is a kaafir, he will make the student a kaafir by reciting the Qur'an, and if the

teacher is a Muslim, he will make the Muslim a kaafir by reciting the Gospel.

Although the closure of educational institutions due to Corona may be an administrative

compulsion, the students are facing educational problems at home. In such times, problems

are more and resources are less. Developing countries cannot achieve development through

online education. Somewhere there is no internet and somewhere the sound of lectures is not

clear and somewhere due to lack of electricity mobile phones are not charged as if there are

problems everywhere. Of course The online system is a test for both teachers and students.

Most teachers take classes on their own, not on time.

Data Analysis

On the other hand, parents who are facing financial difficulties due to lockdown, have taken their

children out of educational institutions due to the high fees demanded by private schools in the

name of online education and expensive internet packages. As a result, many children are

deprived of education. In online education, the education and training of children is entirely

dependent on the parents. The parents have to do most of the homework that the children get.

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

60 | P a g e

"Parents say that after so many months of bitter experience, online education, especially for

young children, is a mere figment of imagination."

Less educated parents are not able to teach their children properly through the curriculum. The

education system is not only playing with the minds, abilities and future of the children but also

playing with the psychology of the parents. Owners of many private enterprises suffered severe

financial losses and many were permanently shut down due to extremely low incomes.

Despite the passage of so many months, educational activities have not been fully restored.

Online education continues, albeit in part. The education system of developing countries around

the world is in decline. According to experts, this short-term educational activity has seen a long

shock, which will take many years to recover. Freezing educational activities is not the answer.

There is a need to review this whole situation. The current difficult situation requires that efforts

be made to rectify the situation. It is the job of governments to improve the Internet and other

administrative structures. But ensuring regularity in teachers' lectures and class duration is

certainly in the hands of educational institutions. If this is not taken care of, the academic and

mental capacity of the students who get academic credentials in this epidemic period will be nil.

Required. When these students go out to get jobs, they will have only degree papers instead of

qualifications. The government should not make such weak decisions about the future of the

students but should take steps to strictly enforce SOPs instead of closing schools and close

departments where SOPs are not implemented Collect fines. Problems are solved by taking

appropriate action.

Levels of Stylistics

Stylistics analysis is divided into four levels like:

Graphology Level

Phonological Level

Morphological Level

Lexico- Syntactic Level

Graphology Level

In the last month of the Corona virus, it started in Wuhan, a city in China, and suddenly it

spread to the whole world. The first case in Pakistan was reported on February 2 in Karachi.

The epidemic spread rapidly and in view of this deteriorating situation, lockdown was

gradually implemented all over the world. Meetings, processions, rallies and gatherings were

banned all over the world. Public transport, markets, educational institutions, hotels, places of

entertainment, wedding halls, places of worship were closed one after another. This global

crisis paralyzed all the activities of life and confined man to the room of the house. This

global epidemic has severely affected the world economy and daily life and at the same time

swallowed many precious lives. As these conditions were full of trials and tribulations, even

the developed countries seemed helpless in the face of this epidemic.

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

61 | P a g e

Corona's epidemic, when the educational institutions were closed in March, will be reopened

from April 1, but Corona said that this was not possible due to increasing attacks. The

lockdown not only broke the back of the economic system but also jammed the wheel of all

educational activities. Which created a huge gap in the students' "education" and

"knowledge". After the lockdown, online education was approved to continue children's

educational activities at home through gadgets and the Internet, and then the Google

Classroom and Zoom app began teaching students to sit in front of screens for hours.

Online education is a new trend. A handful of private schools have adopted online education,

but low-income private and government educational institutions have been slow to adopt

online education due to lack of access to the Internet and gadgets. This educational crisis has

had a negative impact not only on students but also on teachers and parents. More than half of

the children could not understand it. Most of those who understood something lived in areas

where the Internet did not come or did not come very rarely. The rest of the children who had

good internet speed would register themselves in the class and get involved in texting with

each other while some children would join the class and get enough sleep. Almost the entire

education system is in ruins. However The system that has been most affected by this

epidemic is the education system. The children at home are away from books and have

forgotten the lessons they had memorized and now most of the students do not feel like going

to school.

Punctuation

“Khat Mushfiq Khawaja by the name of Siddique Javed” In the introduction of Mushfiq

Khawaja, the name of a book has been written as “Ghalib and Saghir Balgrami” while in fact the

name of the book is “Ghalib and Safir Balgrami”. Similarly, a friend from Bahawalpur is

mentioned whose name is Syed Ahmed while his name was Syed Saeed Ahmed.

One of the objective questions is "There were manuscripts in the library". The number of

manuscripts in the lesson is only more than five thousand.

In the introduction of Iqbal Azeem, his book "Urdu in East Bengal" has been changed to "Urdu

in East Punjab".

In the book, in the introduction of Raees Amaroohi, the name of a book "Hikayat" has been

recorded. While the name of this book has been written by Raees Amaroohi inspired by the first

poem of Maulana Rome's Masnavi.

For reference, see Raees Amrohi (Ahwal and Archeology), Dr. Syed Qasim Jalal, published by

Anjuman-e-Tarqi Urdu Pakistan, Karachi, 2, 3, p.

In the introduction of Iftikhar Arif, the name of a book "Jahan-e-Uloom" is mentioned. While the

name of this book is "World of Knowledge".

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

62 | P a g e

* The date of birth of Parveen Shakir has been recorded as Iftikhar Arif Sahib Wali ie 3, and the

city of Lucknow. Similarly, Parveen Shakir's poem "Mashura" (derived from Sakhn Sara) is

recorded. There is no book by the name of Parveen Shakir. The compilers have taken this poem

from a website Sakhn Sara instead of the original source. If Parveen Shakir's "Mahi Tum" is

available to almost every bookseller then why the original source was not used.

According to the two-line book of ریم Khawaja Mir Dard Ki Ghazal وں Neglected! The“ :ہ

flower in the remembrance of God is Zinhar, while in the Mesra of the Diwan it is written

"Bhool". In the same way, in the book, it is written, "What is the use of talking and arguing?"

Reference Diwan Khawaja Mirdard, Martab: Dr. Zaheer Ahmad Siddiqui, Maktab Shahrah,

Urdu Bazaar, Delhi, Barsom, 2

Birth is recorded in Agra. The date of death is written as 9th September.

For the sake of brevity, only a few errors have been pointed out in the above lines. Covering all

tolerances requires a long essay. The purpose of this short essay is simply to remind the

concerned circles that compiling a textbook is not and should not be a superficial task. There are

also many errors in the text, references and titles (which are present in many places in the book).

To be added to the year.

"If a nation is to be enslaved, education should be taken away from it or its education system

should be made obsolete." Nations that lag behind in education cannot make their mark in the

world. Education is the cause of their rise and fall. Education plays a major role in our

improvement and deterioration. Education is the adornment of civilization. Terrorism and chaos

are also the result of lack of education. When the individual is deprived of intellectual capital,

misleading thoughts settle in the minds of the new generation.

Caesura

The purpose of this short essay is simply to remind the concerned circles that compiling a

textbook is not and should not be a superficial task. There are many errors in the text, citation

and title. It is suggested that this book be included in the next academic year instead of the

current academic year after correcting the errors in the book.

Recently, the Sindh Textbook Board has published a new 11th grade Urdu textbook

containing the new syllabus after 30 years. The number of the first publication is 4,000, which

has been called a trial publication but now according to a notification it has been included in

the syllabus of the eleventh class.

A closer look at this book reveals that no attempt has been made to take a closer look at the

poetic and prose material presented in the book. Am:

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

63 | P a g e

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's articles entitled "National Consensus" are quoted at the end of this

lesson. Nowhere is there a reference to Sir Syed's skin. While this lesson is in the fifth volume

of Sir Syed's articles.

"Fasting of starvation" is the article of Khawaja Hassan Nizami. But in fact the title of the

article is "Fasting in Faqa". This lesson is derived from "Begumat's tears". It also says

"Fasting in Faqa". This article was also published in Nizam-ul-Mashaykh, Volume 2, Number

3, September 3 under the name of "Fasting in Faqa". I don't know why its title has been

changed. In the introduction, the book "The Last Candle of Delhi" is by Mirza Farhatullah

Baig. Which has been included in the books of Khawaja Hassan Nizami.

.Creation of the Universe” by Aftab Hassan. There is no reference to the article in the book“ ٭

This article is actually entitled "Treasures of the Earth", subtitled "The Story of Petroleum".

This article is taken from Anjuman-e-Tarqi Urdu (India) Delhi's book "Jadeed Information

Science", which was published in the year 2000. Incorporating such an article based on old

information is beyond comprehension because scientists believe that in the next twenty-five

years nowhere in the world will petrol or diesel vehicles be sold and the next transport will be

shifted to electric vehicles. These electric vehicles will have superior performance compared

to petrol powered vehicles. Is this subject included in the syllabus providing up-to-date

scientific information for today's child? Because the chain of scientific inventions kept

changing day by day. What is the purpose of including such an ancient article? On a daily

basis, there are voices from all quarters saying that we should acquaint our children with the

latest scientific information.

There is no reference at the end of this lesson of Prof. Dr. Abul Laith Siddiqui in the chapter

“Some Sources of Education” as to where this article is taken from.

“The Palace of Queen Bilqis” is derived from Qamar Ali Abbasi's travelogue “Guests of

Oman”, but reading this travelogue one realizes that only the story of Queen Saba has been

recorded. There is no mention in this travelogue of the well-known places of Oman, its

civilization and culture, its streets and highways, the people and their attitudes and other

paraphernalia which the traveler describes. This is just a story. It should not have been

included in the travelogue in any way. Reading this lesson will not give the impression of

interest in tourism anywhere in the child's mind.

Examples

Stanza 2:Line # 1 = No time to see, when woods we pass,

Stanza 3:Line # 5= No time to see, in broad daylight,

Stanza6: Linee#1=A poor life this if, full of care,

Examples

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

64 | P a g e

Comma

Full stop

Apostrophe

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, (Line 9)

Consonance

Due to this educational crisis, examinations and admissions of all levels in the education sector

have been postponed or canceled. Universities in many countries, such as Australia, the United

Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, rely heavily on the academic mobility of students from

China and India.

t is becoming increasingly clear that the movement of students across the border, at least in the

next two to three years, has been greatly reduced and will pose a major financial risk to

universities in countries that are already under financial pressure. Are Many parents are reluctant

to send their children abroad for higher education because of the risk of epidemics. Educators

have taken a closer look at this critical situation and concluded that students who used to work

hard due to on-campus education and examinations are using new methods of copying which has

resulted in zero copying and copying. The trend has reached alarming levels. Instead of creating

their own assignments, students buy ready-made assignments and submit them to teachers.

Metrical Composition

Online education has been started but the required facilities have not been reviewed. There is no

strong and satisfactory strategy for online education. Institutions do not have any method of

education and training for children through which mental and psychological attachment can be

created with children. Education was mocked by launching online education without any

planning or supervision. The state of the Internet has not been assessed nor has it been seen how

strong and powerful signal internet is available and in which areas this facility is not available.

Due to all these difficulties untrained teachers and young students could not benefit from online

education due to lack of access to internet, unavailability of internet and weak signals while

teachers almost failed to perform their duties efficiently. ۔ Students from disadvantaged areas are

particularly affected. With the advent of online education came the demand for internet packages

for students. This demand was not taken seriously.

Stream full of stars

…stare as long as sheep or cows

Personification

According to a survey, the majority of serious students are dissatisfied with online

education. One reason for the dissatisfaction is the performance of the teacher. The experience of

teaching online was also new for the teachers. A few educational institutions had arranged

training on their own. But there was no system of teacher supervision and training in government

Vol. 1 Issue. 1 (2021)

65 | P a g e

educational institutions. University students complain that many teachers do not give regular

lectures. Even if they take classes, they study for a short time and then leave.

Lexico- Syntactic Level

In this poem the speaker of the poem used different parts of speech but mostly he

has arranged the words by using Noun, Verb, adjective and adverb.

Noun Verb Adjective

Life Care Full

Time See Broad

Boughs Stand Poor

Sheep Stare

Woods Pass Adverb

Cows Beneath

Where

When

References

Birch, D. (1989), Language, literature, and critical practice: Ways of Analyzing text, London

and New York: Rutledge. Bradford, R, Stylistics, London: Rutledge.

Carter, R. (1989). What is the stylistics and why do we teach it in different ways? In M.

Short, (Ed), Reading, Analyzing and Teaching Literature. London: Longman.

Crystal, D & Davy. D. (1969). Investigating English Style. London: Longman.

Galperin, II’jaRomanovic. (1971). Stylistics. Moscow: Higher School Publishing House.

Haynes, J. (1989), Introducing Stylistics, London& New York: Unwin Hyman Ltd.

Leech, G. (1969), A linguistic guide to English Poetry, London: Longman.

Leech, Geoffrey and Mick Short (1981). Style in Fiction, London: Longman.

Widdowson, H.G. (1975), Stylistics and the Teaching of literature, London: Longman.