# Lazy explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by James Weldon Johnson.

## What happens

The speaker defends a life of leisure over constant labor, arguing that work should not dominate life and that enjoyment of the present moment is more valuable than accumulating wealth.

## Key lines

> But what is gold when life is sped, And life is short, as has been said, And we are such a long time dead, I’ll spend my life in living.

Wealth is meaningless when life is fleeting and death is eternal, so I choose to enjoy my time alive.

_The speaker prioritizes living fully over accumulating riches._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_13_se/chapters/lazy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_13_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_13_se/chapters