Poem of the Week

On Saturday, I\’m leaving for vacation!  On the beach!  I\’m rather excited.  In this week\’s poem, Ogden Nash celebrates the joys of doing nothing.  On the beach.  Thanks to my friend K., who introduced me to this very pleasant piece.

Pretty Halcyon Days

by Ogden Nash

How pleasant to sit on the beach,

On the beach, on the sand, in the sun,

With ocean galore within reach,

And nothing at all to be done!

No letters to answer,

No bills to be burned,

No work to be shirked,

No cash to be earned,

It is pleasant to sit on the beach

With nothing at all to be done!

How pleasant to look at the ocean,

Democratic and damp; indiscriminate;

It fills me with noble emotion

To think I am able to swim in it.

To lave in the wave,

Majestic and chilly,

Tomorrow I crave;

But today it is silly.

It is pleasant to look at the ocean;

Tomorrow, perhaps, I shall swim in it.

How pleasant to gaze at the sailors.

As their sailboats they manfully sail

With the vigor of vikings and whalers

In the days of the vikings and whale.

They sport on the brink

Of the shad and the shark;

If its windy they sink;

If it isn\’t, they park.

It is pleasant to gaze at the sailors,

To gaze without having to sail.

How pleasant the salt anesthetic

Of the air and the sand and the sun;

Leave the earth to the strong and athletic,

And the sea to adventure upon.

But the sun and the sand

No contractor can copy;

We lie in the land

Of the lotus and poppy;

We vegetate, calm and aesthetic,

On the beach, on the sand, in the sun.