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ROBERT LOVIS
STEVENSON
EDINBVRGn.
VAIL1MA
ACHILLA GARDENor
-ERT'ljOVIS STEVENSON
-TRATED— DYCHARLES ROBINSON.
Copyright 1895, by Uharle* Scrilmer't Kont
All rights reserved
LONG NIGHTS YOU LAY AWAKE
AND WATCHED FOR MY UNWORTHY SAKE: FOR YOUR MOST COMFORTABLE HAND THAT LED ME THROUGH THE UNEVEN LAND: FOR ALL THE STORY BOOKS YOU READ: FOR ALL THE PAINS YOU COMFORTED: FOR ALL YOU PITIED, ALL YOU BORE, IN SAD AND HAPPY DAYS OF YORE:— MY SECOND MOTHER, MY FIRST WIFE, THE ANGEL OF MY INFANT LIFE— FROM THE SICK CHILD, NOW WELL AND OLD, TAKE, NURSE, THE LITTLE BOOK YOU HOLD!
AND GRANT IT, HEAVEN, THAT ALL WHO READ MAY FIND AS DEAR A NURSE AT NEED, AND EVERY CHILD WHO LISTS MY RHYME, IN THE BRIGHT, FIRESIDE, NURSERY CLIME, MAY HEAR IT IN AS KIND A VOICE AS MADE MY CHILDISH DAYS REJOICE!
R. L. S.
Bed in Summer
A Thought
At the Seaside
Young Night Thought
Whole Duty of Children
Jiain
Pirate Story
Foreign Lands
Windy Nights
Travel
Singing
Looking Forward
A Good Play
Where Go the Boats?
Page 3 5 6 7 9 10
11
13 15 17
20 21
22 24
CONTENTS
Auntie s Skirts page $>t>
The Land of Counterpane 27
The Land of Nod 29
My Shadow 32
System 34
A Good Boy 36
Escape at Bedtime 38
Marching Song 40
The Cow 42
Happy Thought 44
TVze JFmd 45
Keepsake Mill 47
Good awe? Bad Children 49
Foreign Children 51
*SW,y Travels 53
Lamplighter 55
J3ed z* « ^oa/ 57
Moon 59
Swing go
7?we 64
Looking-Glass River 65
-FazVz/ 5re«
From a Railway Carriage 68
Winter-Time 70
77*e /%/o/2 72
Farewell to the Farm 74 xii
CONTENTS
North-West Passage
1. Good Night
2. Shadow March
3. In Port
Pacje 76
77 78
THE CHILD ALONE
The Unseen Playmate 81
My Ship and I 83
My Kingdom 85
Picture Books in Winter/' 87
My Treasu™ 89
Block City 91
The Land of Story-Books 93
Armies in the Fire 95
The Little Land 97
CONTENTS
GARDEN DAYS
Night and Day Page 103
Nest Eggs 107
The Flowers 110
Summer Sun 112
The Dumb Soldier 114
Autumn Fires 117
The Gardenei 119
Historical Associations 121
ENVOYS
To Willie and Henrietta
To my Mother
To Auntie
To Minnie
To my Name-Child
To any Reader
125 127 128 12f) 133 136
ACHILUS GAKDENof
Verses
IN winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street.
BED IN SUMMER
And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day ?
is very nice to think
The world is full of - - meat and drink, Wthlittk children-
A Tnought.
Oi,(iVright 18(.i"). l,y Charles Kcrihner'l Stunt
V4/HEN I was down beside the sd
Awooden spade they gave to nw To dig die sandy shore . ; My holes \vere empty like a cup , "In every hole the sea came up . it could come no more .
ThcScasidc
Cufynght 1895, by CharUl Scrdner't Svtu
Tl -• ^OUNG NlGHTlnOUGHT
LL night long and every night,
When my mamma puts out the light, I see the people marching by, As plain as day, before my eye.
Armies and emperors and kings, All carrying different kinds of things, And marching in so grand a way, You never saw the like by day.
So fine a show was never seen, At the great circus on the green ; For every kind of beast and man Is marching in that caravan.
^LSETjSaJ
Cf THE
(UNIVERSITY^
YOUNG NIGHT THOUGHT
At first they move a little slow, But still the faster on they go, And still beside them close I keep Until we reach the town of Sleep.
WHOLE OUT
CHILD should always
"~-~ what's true
-And speak when
he is spoken to,
And behave
manner!/ at table:
At least as far as he
is able -
Copyright 1890, 6» Charles Scribntr's Sam
RAIJV
IrlLraJn is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree , It rains on the umbrellas here., And on the ships at sea. .
Copyright 1800, 6y Charles Scriliner'i Sont
5TOKY
rTHHREE of us afloat in the meadow by the A swing,
Three of us aboard in the basket on the lea. Winds are in the air, they are blowing in the
spring,
And waves are on the meadow like the waves there are at sea.
Where shall we adventure to-day that we 're afloat, Wary of the weather and steering by a star ?
Shall it be to Africa, a-steering of the boat, To Providence, or Babylon, or off to Malabar ?
11
PIRATE STORY
Hi ! but here's a squadron a-rowing on the sea — Cattle on the meadow a-charging with a roar ! Quick, and we'll escape them, they're as mad as
they can be,
The wicket is the harbour and the garden is the shore.
P into the cherry tree Who should climb but little me ? I held the trunk with both my hands And looked abroad on foreign lands.
I saw the next door garden lie, Adorned with flowers before my eye, And many pleasant places more That I had never seen before. 13
FOREIGN LANDS
I saw the dimpling river pass And be the sky's blue looking-glass ; The dusty roads go up and down With people tramping in to town.
If I could find a higher tree Farther and farther I should see, To where the grown-up river slips Into the sea among the ships,
To where the roads on either hand Lead onward into fairy land, Where all the children dine at five, And all the playthings come alive.
HENEVER the moon and stars
are set, Whenever the wind is high, All night long in the dark and wet,
A man goes riding by. Late in the night when the fires are out, Why does he gallop and gallop about ?
WINDY NIGHTS
Whenever the trees are crying aloud, And ships are tossed at sea,
By, on the highway, low and loud, By at the gallop goes he ;
By at the gallop he goes, and then
By he comes back at the gallop again,
{SHOULD like to rise and go Where the golden apples grow ; — Where below another sky Parrot islands anchored lie, And, watched by cockatoos and goats, Lonely £rusoes building boats ; — WThere in sunshine reaching out Eastern cities, miles about, Are with mosque and minaret Among sandy gardens set, And the rich goods from near and far Hang for sale in the bazaar ; —
17
TRAVEL
Where the Great Wall round China goes, And on one side the desert blows, And with bell and voice and drum, Cities on the other hum ; — Where are forests, hot as fire, Wide as England, tall as a spire, Full of apes and cocoa-nuts And the negro hunters' huts ; — Where the knotty crocodile Lies and blinks in the Nile, And the red flamingo flies Hunting fish before his eyes ; — Where in jungles near and far, Man-devouring tigers are, Lying close and giving ear Lest the hunt be drawing near, Or a comer-by be seen Swinging in a palanquin : — Where among the desert sands Some deserted city stands, All its children, sweep and prince. Grown to manhood ages since, Not a foot in street or house, Not a stir of child or mouse, And when kindly falls the night, In all the town no spark of ligb?;. There I'll come when I'm a man With a camel caravan ; Light a fire in the gloom Of some dusty dining-room ; 18
TRAVEL
See the pictures on the walls, Heroes, fights and festivals; And in a corner find the toys Of the old Egyptian boys.
RINGING *
F speckled eggs the birdie sings And nests among the trees ;
The sailor sings of ropes and things In ships upon the seas.
The children sing in far Japan, The children sing in Spain ;
The organ with the organ man Is singing in the rain.
20
\ 4 7TTEN I am grown to maris estate. • T T I shall be very proud and And tell the other girls and boys Not to meddle with my leys . ~~^^.
21
WE built a ship upon the stairs All made of the back-bedroom
chairs,
And filled it full of sofa pillows To go a-sailing on the billows.
We took a saw and several nails, And water in the nursery pails ; And Tom said, ' Let us also take An apple and a slice of cake ; '- Which was enough for Tom and
me To go a-sailing on, till tea.
22
A GOOD PLAY
We sailed along for days and days, And had the very best of plays ; But Tom fell out and hurt his knee, So there was no one left but me.
C.C
BOATS?
ARK brown is the river, Golden is the sand. It flows along for ever, With trees on either hand.
Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam, Boats of mine a-boating —
Where will all come home ?
On goes the river
And out past the mill, Away down the valley, ..Away down the hill.
WHERE GO THE BOATS'?
Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.
AUNTIES SKIRTS
hcncvcr Auntie mo\
H
Fler
make
cirious
And trundle after. thrcLierh door. .
HEN I was sick and lay a-bed, I had two pillows at my head, And all my toys beside me lay To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so I watched my leaden soldiers go, With different uniforms and drills, Among the bed-clothes, through the hills ;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets All up and down among the sheets ; Or brought my trees and houses out, And planted cities all about.
27
THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE
I was the giant great and still That sits upon the pillow-hill, And sees before him, dale and plain, The pleasant land of counterpane.
•-77
OTv
OD
Copyright 1895, Ay Charlts Scrtlmer's Son
ROM breakfast on through all
the day At home among my friends
I stay;
But every night I go abroad Afar into the land of Nod.
All by myself I have to go,
With none to tell me what to do —
All alone beside the streams
And up the mountain-sides of dreams.
"Up the mountain sides of dreams?
Copjrifht 1895, by Charles Scribncr't Soni
THE LAND OF NOD
The strangest things are there for me, Both things to eat and things to see, And many frightening sights abroad Till morning in the land of Nod.
Try as I like to find the way, I never can get back by day, Nor can remember plain and clear The curious music that I hear.
MI SHADOW
1HAVE a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I
can see. V.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to
the head ; «
And I see ;him jump before me, when I jump into my bed. v
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow —
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow ;
For he sometimes shoots up taller, like an india- rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.
He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to
play, And can only make a fool of me in every sort of
way.
32
MY SHADOW
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you
can see ; I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow
sticks to me !
One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
1 rose and found the shining dew on every but tercup ;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
VERY night my prayers I say, And get my dinner every day ; And every day that I've been good, I get an orange after food
SYSTEM
The child that is not clean and neat. With lots of toys and things to eat, He is a naughty child, I'm sure — Or else his dear papa is poor.
II
WOKE before the morning, I was
happy all the day, I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play.
And now at last the sun is going down behind
the wood, And I am very happy, for I know that I've been
good.
My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen
smooth and fair, And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my
prayer.
I know that, till to-morrow I shall see the sun
arise, No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly
sight my eyes,
36
A GOOD BOY
But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the
dawn, And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round
the lawn.
T
HE lights from the parlour and
kitchen shone out Through the blinds and the windows
and bars ; And high overhead and all moving
about,
There were thousands of millions of stars. There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a
tree,
Nor of people in church or the Park, As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon
me, And that glittered and winked in the dark.
ESCAPE AT BEDTIME
The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all,
And the star of the sailor/ and Mars, These shone in the sky, and the pail by the wall,
Would be half full of water and stars. They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
And they soon had me packed into bed ; But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
And the stars going round in my head.
^S OF THE
UNIVERSITY' ^UFORNIA-
MARCHING'
'5ONG
BRING the comb and play upon it ! Marching, here we come ! Willie cocks his highland bonnet, Johnnie beats the drum.
Mary Jane commands the party,
Peter leads the rear ; Fleet in time, alert and hearty,
Each a Grenadier !
All in the most martial manner
Marching double-quick ; While the napkin like a banner
Waves upon the stick !
40
MARCHING SONG
Here's enough of fame and pillage,
Great commander Jane ! Now that we've been round the village,
Let's go home again.
THE friendly cow all red and white, I love with all my heart : She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple-tart.
42
THE COW
She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray, All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day ;
And blown by all the winds that pass And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass And eats the meadow flowers.
"^
TTNIVERSTT
, Of;
1WT7 TIEUSff.
\ve should all be as happ^
THE \viito
1SAW you toss the kites on high And blow the birds about the sky ; And all around I heard you pass, Like ladies' skirts across the grass — • O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song !
I saw the different things you did, But always you yourself you hid. I felt you push, I heard you call, I could not see yourself at all —
O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song !
O wi
45
THE WIND
O you that are so strong and cold, () blower, are you young or old ? Are you a beast of field and tree, Or just a stronger child than me ? O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song !
I KEEF3AKE MILL
r -
V /l\ ^^"^ ^le borders, a sin without pardon, Breaking the branches and crawling
below,
Out through the breach in the wall of the garden, Down by the banks of the river, we go.
Here is the mill with the humming of thunder, Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice writh the race running under — Marvellous places, though handy to home !
Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller, Stiller the note of the birds on the hill ;
Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller, Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.
Years may go by, and the wheel in the river Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,
Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever Long after all of the boys are away.
47
KEEPSAKE MILL
Home from the Indies and home from me ocean, Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home ;
Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion, Turning and churning that river to foam.
You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled,
I with your marble of Saturday last, Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled,
Here we shall meet and remember the past.
**TH£-BEflN- TmT- I • QfWE • WHEN • WE OUBRRELLBD"
48
i.rM
_: Vgjp HILDREN, you are very little, And your bones are very brittle ; If you would grow great and stately, You must try to walk sedately.