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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Poetry Friday: My Shadow

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It’s Poetry Friday. Hooray! In my thesis, which is (hopefully) nearing completion, one of the things I touch on is how poems made me feel as a child, and how the poems I loved and learned as a child have stayed with me. Yesterday, for no discernible reason, Robert Louis Stevenson’s My Shadow popped into my head, and I found myself reciting it. I then had to look it up to see if I’d got it right – funnily, I had completely forgotten the ‘nursie’ stanza, but the rest I had down-pat. So, of course, I thought today that this should be the poem I share.

My Shadow

by R.L. Stevenson

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.

 

 

(This poem is in the public domain)

 

And, because I missed last Friday because I was at the beach, here’s my shadow last Friday!

Poetry Friday today is hosted by Violet Nesdoly, who has chosen a perfect poem to share today. Head over to see her choice and the Poetry Friday  Roundup.

Comments

  1. A Child’s Garden of Verses was and is such an important book for me. The poem that I always come back to is “The Swing.” Great photograph of your shadow!

  2. I just came here from Tara’s poem about memories! What a co-inky-dink!

    (I wouldn’t mind a beach right about now, if there’s a spare one somewhere who could come visit me!!)

  5. Sally, shadow at the beach-a beautiful sight and one that makes me think back on summer on Long Island. Whether it is Australia or New York, shadow play brings joy to many hearts.

  8. What a fun poem–and picture from the beach. I remember reading this as a child, but I certainly couldn’t have recited it. Congratulations on nearly finishing your thesis, too.

  9. What a fun poem. I did not grow up in a poetry rich environment. I’m not sure why. I had a “classic” education that was pretty much the same as it has been for generations in my little town. But, on the few occasions that I was required to memorize and deliver lines of any sort, I loved it!
    As I read this poem I imagined skipping rope. I love the beat…and see that it’s in the public domain. This is a poem I can use in my mimicry poems I’ve been working on lately! Thanks for sharing.
    I love seeing some of your summer sun. Have a great week.

    • Thanks Linda. Yes, I loved to learn lines. I was fortunate to have Stevenson’s Garden of Verses as a child, as well as a Childcraft volume filled with lots of classic children’s poems, both of which I still treasure.

  10. Oh, love your picture, too, Sally. Robert Louis Stevenson is a clever poet, isn’t he? I’ve read this to my granddaughters, who like it a lot. We still “play” with shadows when the timing’s right. I always loved “like an india-rubber ball” because it is a term from so long ago. Thanks!

  11. My shadow will be delighted to spend Friday in bed. What a grand idea. Wonderful poem to have popping out at opportune moments.

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