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.
By Robert Louis Stevenson
A delightful B/W -- at first glance quite difficult to tell apart the plant and its shadow , and what an apt poem to go with it . I am sure it is a poem you read to your class of little ones at school and perhaps in cooperating it with other activities !
@taffy it has been a favourite of mine since I was a kid :) @beryl thank you Beryl - I do indeed read it to the kids - and use it when doing the sun and shadows :)
@beryl thank you Beryl - I do indeed read it to the kids - and use it when doing the sun and shadows :)