The Land of Story-Books
by Robert Louis Stevenson
At evening when the lamp is lit,
Around the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
And do not play at anything.
Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.
There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.
These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And there the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.
I see the others far away
As if in firelit camp they lay,
And I, like to an Indian scout,
Around their party prowled about.
So, when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
And go to bed with backward looks
At my dear land of Story-books.
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My first Poetry Friday post! To learn more about Poetry Friday, visit Big A little a. And a big shout-out to Miss Erin for pointing me in the right direction and helping me get acquainted with Poetry Friday!
This week's Poetry Friday round-up is at Charlotte's Library.
Friday, August 29, 2008
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Oh, I love that poem!
ReplyDeleteand thanks for the shout-out :)
Ah, I really liked this poem!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my all-time childhood favorite memories, reading and re-reading Stevenson.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Miss Em.
You, Em, are an incredible individual. I hadn't read this poem in years and it was my absolute favorite growing up. So when I popped on your blog for a moment I squealed. Rather loudly I might add. It improved my day enormously. Best poetry Friday piece evaaahhhh.
ReplyDeleteSorry. Overenthusiastic about nostalgia. *sheepish glance*
-Aella
Wow, that's a really nice poem. I'd love to live in a land of story-books!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad everyone liked my inaugural poetry friday poem so much! Now the pressure is on to find a good one for next week. :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Poetry Friday--how fun to read this poem again. Haven't seen it since a year ago when I was reading Scottish poetry to prepare for a trip there!
ReplyDelete