Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MY SHADOW, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MY SHADOW, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me
Last Line: Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour
Variant Title(s): A Child's Garden Of Verses: 18
Subject(s): Children; Imagination; Shadows; Childhood; Fancy


I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
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.

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.
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,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.





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