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The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 14 cover

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 14

Chapter 1: THE WORKS OF
By Robert Louis Stevenson
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A collection of short, lyrical poems that portray a child's everyday world—play, bedtimes, illness, and simple routines—and transform ordinary moments into flights of imagination, from seascapes and pirate voyages to exotic cityscapes and dreamlands. Many pieces register close observations of nature, weather, shadows, and seasonal change, delivered in musical rhythms and a child’s perspective. Recurring motifs of family, nursery practice, and the border between waking and sleeping produce concise moods that move between playful exuberance, wistful longing, and quiet contemplation.

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Title: The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 14

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Other: Andrew Lang

Release date: December 12, 2009 [eBook #30659]
Most recently updated: January 5, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Marius Masi, Jonathan Ingram and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORKS OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON - SWANSTON EDITION, VOL. 14 ***
 

THE WORKS OF

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

SWANSTON EDITION

VOLUME XIV
 

Of this SWANSTON EDITION in Twenty-five
Volumes of the Works of ROBERT LOUIS
STEVENSON Two Thousand and Sixty Copies
have been printed, of which only Two Thousand
Copies are for sale.

This is No. ............

 
ALISON CUNNINGHAM, R. L. S.’S NURSE

THE WORKS OF

ROBERT LOUIS

STEVENSON

 
VOLUME FOURTEEN
 
LONDON: PUBLISHED BY CHATTO AND
WINDUS: IN ASSOCIATION WITH CASSELL
AND COMPANY LIMITED: WILLIAM
HEINEMANN: AND LONGMANS GREEN
AND COMPANY MDCCCCXII
 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 

CONTENTS

A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES
    PAGE
I. Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night		 3
II. A Thought
It is very nice to think		 3
III. At the Sea-side
When I was down beside the sea		 4
IV. Young Night Thought
All night long, and every night		 4
V. Whole Duty of Children
A child should always say what’s true		 5
VI. Rain
The rain is raining all around		 5
VII. Pirate Story
Three of us afloat in the meadow by the swing		 5
VIII. Foreign Lands
Up into the cherry-tree		 6
IX. Windy Nights
Whenever the moon and stars are set		 7
X. Travel
I should like to rise and go		 7
XI. Singing
Of speckled eggs the birdie sings		 9
XII. Looking Forward
When I am grown to man’s estate		 9
XIII. A Good Play
We built a ship upon the stairs		 9
XIV. Where go the Boats?
Dark brown is the river		 10
XV. Auntie’s Skirts
Whenever Auntie moves around		 11
XVI. The Land of Counterpane
When I was sick and lay a-bed		 11
XVII. The Land of Nod
From breakfast on all through the day		 12
XVIII. My Shadow
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me		 12
XIX. System
Every night my prayers I say		 13
XX. A Good Boy
I woke before the morning, I was happy all the day		 14
XXI. Escape at Bedtime
The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out		 14
XXII. Marching Song
Bring the comb and play upon it		 15
XXIII. The Cow
The friendly cow, all red and white		 16
XXIV. Happy Thought
The world is so full of a number of things		 16
XXV. The Wind
I saw you toss the kites on high		 16
XXVI. Keepsake Mill
Over the borders, a sin without pardon		 17
XXVII. Good and Bad Children
Children, you are very little		 18
XXVIII. Foreign Children
Little Indian, Sioux or Crow		 19
XXIX. The Sun’s Travels
The sun is not a-bed when I		 20
XXX. The Lamplighter
My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky		 20
XXXI. My Bed is a Boat
My bed is like a little boat		 21
XXXII. The Moon
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall		 22
XXXIII. The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing		 22
XXXIV. Time to Rise
A birdie with a yellow bill		 23
XXXV. Looking-Glass River
Smooth it slides upon its travel		 23
XXXVI. Fairy Bread
Come up here, O dusty feet		 24
XXXVII. From a Railway Carriage
Faster than fairies, faster than witches		 24
XXXVIII. Winter-Time
Late lies the wintry sun a-bed		 25
XXXIX. The Hayloft
Through all the pleasant meadow-side		 26
XL. Farewell to the Farm
The coach is at the door at last		 26
XLI. North-West Passage 27
  1. Good Night
When the bright lamp is carried in		 27
  2. Shadow March
All round the house is the jet-black night		 28
  3. In Port
Last, to the chamber where I lie		 28
THE CHILD ALONE
I. The Unseen Playmate
When children are playing alone on the green		 31
II. My Ship and I
O it’s I that am the captain of a tidy little ship		 32
III. My Kingdom
Down by a shining water well		 32
IV. Picture-Books in Winter
Summer fading, winter comes		 33
V. My Treasures
These nuts, that I keep in the back of the nest		 34
VI. Block City
What are you able to build with your blocks		 35
VII. The Land of Story-Books
At evening when the lamp is lit		 36
VIII. Armies in the Fire
The lamps now glitter down the street		 37
IX. The Little Land
When at home alone I sit		 38
GARDEN DAYS
I. Night and Day
When the golden day is done		 43
II. Nest Eggs
Birds all the sunny day		 44
III. The Flowers
All the names I know from nurse		 46
IV. Summer Sun
Great is the sun, and wide he goes		 46
V. The Dumb Soldier
When the grass was closely mown		 47
VI. Autumn Fires
In the other gardens		 49
VII. The Gardener
The gardener does not love to talk		 49
VIII. Historical Associations
Dear Uncle Jim, this garden ground		 50
ENVOYS
I. To Willie and Henrietta
If two may read aright		 55
II. To My Mother
You too, my mother, read my rhymes		 55
III. To Auntie
Chief of our aunts—not only I		 56
IV. To Minnie
The red room with the giant bed		 56
V. To my Name-Child
Some day soon this rhyming volume, if you learn with proper speed		 58
VI. To any Reader
As from the house your mother sees		 59

UNDERWOODS
BOOK I: IN ENGLISH
I. Envoy
Go, little book, and wish to all		 67
II. A Song of the Road
The gauger walked with willing foot		 67
III. The Canoe Speaks
On the great streams the ships may go		 68
IV.
It is the season now to go		 70
V. The House Beautiful
A naked house, a naked moor		 71
VI. A Visit From The Sea
Far from the loud sea beaches		 72
VII. To a Gardener
Friend, in my mountain-side demesne		 73
VIII. To Minnie
A picture-frame for you to fill		 74
IX. To K. de M.
A lover of the moorland bare		 74
X. To N. V. de G. S.
The unfathomable sea, and time, and tears		 75
XI. To Will. H. Low
Youth now flees on feathered foot		 76
XII. To Mrs. Will. H. Low
Even in the bluest noonday of July		 77
XIII. To H. F. Brown
I sit and wait a pair of oars		 78
XIV. To Andrew Lang
Dear Andrew, with the brindled hair		 79
XV. Et tu in Arcadia vixisti (to r. a. m. s.)
In ancient tales, O friend, thy spirit dwelt		 80
XVI. To W. E. Henley
The year runs through her phases; rain and sun		 82
XVII. Henry James
Who comes to-night? We ope the doors in vain		 83
XVIII. The Mirror Speaks
Where the bells peal far at sea		 84
XIX. Katharine
We see you as we see a face		 85
XX. To F. J. S.
I read, dear friend, in your dear face		 85
XXI. Requiem
Under the wide and starry sky		 86
XXII. The Celestial Surgeon
If I have faltered more or less		 86
XXIII. Our Lady of the Snows
Out of the sun, out of the blast		 87
XXIV.
Not yet, my soul, these friendly fields desert		 89
XXV.
It is not yours, O mother, to complain		 90
XXVI. The Sick Child
O mother, lay your hand on my brow		 92
XXVII. In Memoriam F. A. S.
Yet, O stricken heart, remember, O remember		 93
XXVIII. To my Father
Peace and her huge invasion to these shores		 93
XXIX. In the States
With half a heart I wander here		 94
XXX. A Portrait
I am a kind of farthing dip		 95
XXXI.
Sing clearlier, Muse, or evermore be still		 96
XXXII. A Camp
The bed was made, the room was fit		 96
XXXIII. The Country of the Camisards
We travelled in the print of olden wars		 96
XXXIV. Skerryvore
For love of lovely words, and for the sake		 97
XXXV. Skerryvore: The Parallel
Here all is sunny, and when the truant gull		 97
XXXVI.
My house, I say. But hark to the sunny doves		 98
XXXVII.
My body which my dungeon is		 98
XXXVIII.
Say not of me that weakly I declined		 99
BOOK II: IN SCOTS
I. The Maker to Posterity
Far ’yont amang the years to be		 105
II. Ille Terrarum
Frae nirly, nippin’, Eas’lan’ breeze		 106
III.
When aince Aprile has fairly come		 109
IV. A Mile an’ a Bittock
A mile an’ a bittock, a mile or twa		 110
V. A Lowden Sabbath Morn
The clinkum-clank o’ Sabbath bells		 111
VI. The Spaewife
O, I wad like to ken—to the beggar-wife says I		 116
VII. The Blast—1875
It’s rainin’. Weet’s the gairden sod		 116
VIII. The Counterblast—1886
My bonny man, the warld, it’s true		 118
IX. The Counterblast Ironical
It’s strange that God should fash to frame		 120
X. Their Laureate to an Academy Class Dinner Club
Dear Thamson class, whaure’er I gang		 121
XI. Embro Hie Kirk
The Lord Himsel’ in former days		 123
XII. The Scotsman’s Return from Abroad
In mony a foreign pairt I’ve been		 125
XIII.
Late In the night in bed I lay		 129
XIV. My Conscience!
Of a’ the ills that flesh can fear		 131
XV. To Dr. John Brown
By Lyne and Tyne, by Thames and Tees		 133
XVI.
It’s an owercome sooth for age an’ youth		 135

BALLADS
THE SONG OF RAHÉRO
A LEGEND OF TAHITI
I. The Slaying of Támatéa 139
II. The Venging Of Támatéa 148
III. Rahéro 159
THE FEAST OF FAMINE
MARQUESAN MANNERS
I. The Priest’s Vigil 169
II. The Lovers 172
III. The Feast 176
IV. The Raid 182
TICONDEROGA
A LEGEND OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS
I. The Saying of the Name 189
II. The Seeking of the Name 194
III. The Place of the Name 196
HEATHER ALE
A GALLOWAY LEGEND
  From the bonny bells of heather 201
CHRISTMAS AT SEA
  The sheets were frozen hard 207
Notes to The Song of Rahéro 211
Notes to The Feast of Famine 213
Notes to Ticonderoga 214
Note to Heather Ale 215

SONGS OF TRAVEL
I. The Vagabond
Give to me the life I love		 219
II. Youth and Love—I
Once only by the garden gate		 220
III. Youth and Love—II
To the heart of youth the world is a highwayside		 221
IV.
In dreams, unhappy, I behold you stand		 221
V.
She rested by the Broken Brook		 222
VI.
The infinite shining heavens		 222
VII.
Plain as the glistering planets shine		 223
VIII.
To you, let snow and roses		 224
IX.
Let Beauty awake in the morn from beautiful dreams		 224
X.
I know not how it is with you		 225
XI.
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight		 225
XII. We have loved of Yore
Berried brake and reedy island		 226
XIII. Mater Triumphans
Son of my woman’s body, you go, to the drum and fife		 227
XIV.
Bright is the ring of words		 227
XV.
In the highlands, in the country places		 228
XVI.
Home no more home to me, whither must I wander		 229
XVII. Winter
In rigorous hours, when down the iron lane		 230
XVIII.
The stormy evening closes now in vain		 230
XIX. To Dr. Hake
In the beloved hour that ushers day		 231
XX. To ——
I knew thee strong and quiet like the hills		 232
XXI.
The morning drum-call on my eager ear		 233
XXII.
I have trod the upward and the downward slope		 233
XXIII.
He hears with gladdened heart the thunder		 233
XXIV.
Farewell, fair day and fading light		 233
XXV. If this were Faith
God, if this were enough		 234
XXVI. My Wife
Trusty, dusky, vivid, true		 235
XXVII. To the Muse
Resign the rhapsody, the dream		 236
XXVIII. To an Island Princess
Since long ago, a child at home		 237
XXIX. To Kalakaua
The Silver Ship, my King—that was her name		 238
XXX. To Princess Kaiulani
Forth from her land to mine she goes		 239
XXXI. To Mother Maryanne
To see the infinite pity of this place		 240
XXXII. In Memoriam E. H.
I knew a silver head was bright beyond compare		 240
XXXIII. To my Wife
Long must elapse ere you behold again		 241
XXXIV. To my old Familiars
Do you remember—can we e’er forget		 242
XXXV.
The tropics vanish, and meseems that I		 243
XXXVI. To S. C.
I heard the pulse of the besieging sea		 244
XXXVII. The House of Tembinoka
Let us, who part like brothers, part like bards		 245
XXXVIII. The Woodman
In all the grove, nor stream nor bird		 249
XXXIX. Tropic Rain
As the single pang of the blow, when the metal is mingled well		 254
XL. An End of Travel
Let now your soul in this substantial world		 255
XLI.
We uncommiserate pass into the night		 255
XLII.
Sing me a song of a lad that is gone		 256
XLIII. To S. R. Crockett
Blows the wind to-day, and the sun and the rain are flying		 257
XLIV. Evensong
The embers of the day are red		 257

ADDITIONAL POEMS
I. A Familiar Epistle
Blame me not that this epistle		 261
II. Rondels
1. Far have you come, my lady, from the town
2. Nous n’irons plus au bois
3. Since I am sworn to live my life
4. Of his pitiable transformation		 263
III. Epistle to Charles Baxter
Noo lyart leaves blaw ower the green		 265
IV. The Susquehannah and the Delaware
Of where or how, I nothing know		 267
V. Epistle to Albert Dew-Smith
Figure me to yourself, I pray		 268
VI. Alcaics to Horatio F. Brown
Brave lads in olden musical centuries		 270
VII. A Lytle Jape of Tusherie
The pleasant river gushes		 272
VIII. To Virgil and Dora Williams
Here, from the forelands of the tideless sea		 273
IX. Burlesque Sonnet
Thee, Mackintosh, artificer of light		 273
X. The Fine Pacific Islands
The jolly English Yellowboy		 274
XI. Auld Reekie
When chitterin’ cauld the day sall daw		 275
XII. The Lesson of the Master
Adela, Adela, Adela Chart		 276
XIII. The Consecration of Braille
I was a barren tree before		 276
XIV. Song
Light foot and tight foot		 277