“My Shadow” is a wonderful poem by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94). It’s a great piece to share with your kids, grandkids or students! You can listen to it recited, by clicking the link below…
My Shadow
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.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 11:45 am and is filed under English, Languages, Mama Lisa, MP3 Recordings, My Shadow, Poems, Poetry, Poets, Recordings of Nursery Rhymes, Robert Louis Stevenson. 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.
7 Responses to ““My Shadow” a Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson with MP3”
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June 6th, 2009 at 12:13 am
I kept an old childhood treasure, A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, with that poem in it which I love. Several editions exist now, illustrated by various artists including Tasha Tudor, but all are well worth owning. My edition, illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa, is recently back in print!
November 12th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
HI , if you need a short and sweet summary of this poem , well here it goes :D :
This poem is about a little kid who thinks that the shadow is another child who is very lazy and is a coward and doesn’t follow him ANYWHERE because he’s not there in the night . Its basically about one’s imagination and fantasies. This poem speaks about the innocence of the child.
Thank you
:)
November 12th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
THIS IS A STUPIDLY DUMB POEM ABOUT A WEIRD KID WHO LIKES HI OWN SHADOW!!! WOW KIDS ARE DUMB!!!
December 1st, 2012 at 6:10 pm
@bookcritic
The fact that your nickname is book critic, does not make you a smarter person.
In fact, you are the dumb one here.
July 1st, 2014 at 1:46 am
I have loved this poem for almost my entire 73 years. This weekend my 6-year old grandchild was fascinated by what her shadow was doing. Out of nowhere, I started reciting the poem. But I couldn’t remember all of it, so I googled it, and here you are! Thank you so much! I’m going to forward it to her now. NM.
May 15th, 2015 at 12:22 am
This is a nice poem. I’d like to share it with my kids. They would love it!
Thank you so much.
September 20th, 2017 at 11:07 pm
Like Nancy Mullen, I have loved this poem for nearly 75 years. My puppy was following me around the house. I said to my husband, “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me.” He replied, “And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.” Then neither of us could go much further correctly. A HUGE THANK YOU for having this available to renew my memory of the poem and the happy times my mama and I had reciting it together.