The poem My Bed is a Boat reminds me of being a kid and playing with my friends on the couch pretending it was a rowboat. What fun!
You can read the poem below and listen along on YouTube videos. There are 3 renditions: the 1st is recited, the 2nd is sung as a lullaby, and the 3rd is sung in a cabaret style…
My Bed is a Boat
by Robert Louis StevensonMy bed is like a little boat;
Nurse helps me in when I embark;
She girds me in my sailor’s coat
And starts me in the dark.
At night I go on board and say
Good-night to all my friends on shore;
I shut my eyes and sail away
And see and hear no more.
And sometimes things to bed I take,
As prudent sailors have to do;
Perhaps a slice of wedding-cake,
Perhaps a toy or two.
All night across the dark we steer;
But when the day returns at last,
Safe in my room beside the pier,
I find my vessel fast.
Here you can hear the poem recited:
Here you can hear the poem sung as a lullaby:
Here’s a cabaret rendition:
These renditions show how you can take a poem and turn it into all sorts of wonderful things!
-Mama Lisa
Illustration from “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Charles Robinson (1914).
This article was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2012 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Arts and Crafts, Australia, Countries & Cultures, England, English, Illustrations, Languages, Lullabies, Lullabies from Around the World, My Bed is a Boat, Poems, Poems about Childhood, Poems about Children, Poetry, Poets, Robert Louis Stevenson, USA, YouTube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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