Robert Louis Stevenson – The Complete Collection

Robert Louis Stevenson – The Complete Collection A Childs Garden of Verses A Christmas Sermon A Footnote to History Across The Plains An Inland Voyage Ballads Catriona David Balfour Edinburgh Picturesque Notes Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson Essays of Travel Fables Familiar Studies of Men & Books Father Damien In the South Seas Island Nights' Entertainments Kidnapped Lay Morals Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson vol 1 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson vol 2 Master of Ballantrae Masterpieces of Mystery in Four Volumes Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin Memories and Portraits Moral Emblems New Arabian Nights New Poems Plays of Henley and RL Stevenson Prayers Written at Vailima Prince Otto Records of a Family of Engineers Scribners Stories by English Authors in France Songs of Travel St Ives Stories by English Authors Tales and Fantasies The Art of Writing The Black Arrow The Body-Snatcher The Dynamiter The Ebb-Tide The Merry Men The Pocket The Sea Fogs The Silverado Squatters The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde The Waif Woman The Wrecker The Wrong Box Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne Treasure Island Underwoods Vailima Letters Virginibus Puerisque Walter Raleigh Weir of Hermiston A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson To Alison Cunningham From Her Boy For the 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. Contents To Alison Cunningham I Bed in Summer II A Thought III At the Sea-Side IV Young Night-Thought V Whole Duty of Children VI Rain VII Pirate Story VIII Foreign Lands IX Windy Nights X Travel XI Singing XII Looking Forward XIII A Good Play XIV Where Go the Boats? XV Auntie's Skirts XVI The Land of Counterpane XVII The Land of Nod XVIII My Shadow XIX System XX A Good Boy XXI Escape at Bedtime XXII Marching Song XXIII The Cow XXIV The Happy Thought XXV The Wind XXVI Keepsake Mill XXVII Good and Bad Children XXVIII Foreign Children XXIX The Sun Travels XXX The Lamplighter XXXI My Bed is a Boat XXXII The Moon XXXIII The Swing XXXIV Time to Rise XXXV Looking-Glass River XXXVI Fairy Bread XXXVII From a Railway Carriage XXXVIII Winter-Time XXXIX The Hayloft XL Farewell to the Farm XLI North-West Passage Good-Night Shadow March In PortThe Child Alone I The Unseen Playmate II My Ship and I III My Kingdom IV Picture-Books in Winter V My Treasures VI Block City VII The Land of Story-Books VIII Armies in the Fire IX The Little Land Garden Days I Night and Day II Nest Eggs III The Flowers IV Summer Sun V The Dumb Soldier VI Autumn Fires VII The Gardener VIII Historical Associations Envoys I To Willie and Henrietta II To My Mother III To Auntie IV To Minnie V To My Name-Child VI To Any Reader A Child's Garden of Verses I Bed in Summer 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. 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? II A Thought It is very nice to think The world is full of meat and drink , With little children saying grace In every Christian kind of place. III At the Sea-Side When I was down beside the sea A wooden spade they gave to me To dig the sandy shore. My holes were empty like a cup. In every hole the sea came up, Till it could come no more. IV Young Night-Thought All night long and every night , When my mama puts out the light, I see the people marching by, As plain as day before my eye. Armies and emperor 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. As first they move a little slow , But still the faster on they go, And still beside me close I keep Until we reach the town of Sleep. V Whole Duty of Children A child should always say what's true And speak when he is spoken to , And behave mannerly at table; At least as far as he is able. VI Rain The rain is falling all around, It falls on field and tree , It rains on the umbrellas here, And on the ships at sea. VII Pirate Story Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing, Three of us abroad 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? 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. VIII Foreign Lands Up into the cherry tree Who should climb but little me? I held the trunk with both my hands And looked abroad in 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. 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. IX Windy Nights Whenever 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? 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. X Travel I 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 Crusoes building boats;-- Where 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;-- Where the Great Wall round China goes, And on one side the desert blows, And with the voice and bell 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 n***o 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 the 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 light. There I'll come when I'm a man With a camel caravan; Light a fire in the gloom Of some dusty dining room; See the pictures on the walls, Heroes, fights and festivals; And in a corner find the toys Of the old Egyptian boys. XI Singing Of 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. XII Looking Forward When I am grown to man's estate I shall be very proud and great , And tell the other girls and boys Not to meddle with my toys. XIII A Good Play 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. 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. XIV Where Go the Boats? Dark 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. Away down the river, A hundred miles or more , Other little children Shall bring my boats ashore. XV Auntie's Skirts Whenever Auntie moves around , Her dresses make a curious sound, They trail behind her up the floor, And trundle after through the door. XVI The Land of Counterpane When 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. 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. XVII The Land of Nod From 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. The strangest things are these 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. XVIII My Shadow 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 goes 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 behind me, he's a coward you can see ; I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!