"My Shadow"

"My Shadow" From Child's Garden of Verses

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 goes 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 behind 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. 

-Robert Louis Stevenson

I chose this poem to write about because it was one of my favorite poems as a child. I have many memories of my parents reading this to me at night.  I thought that the poem was interesting and silly as a kid and some of the stanzas still stick with me.  

Vocabulary:

Proper: Acting in a good manner or with manners.

Notion: an idea or clue.

Arrant: completely or thoroughly.

Coward: A person who is timid and scared.

Shame: dishonor or embarrassment.

Dew: The mist that is sometimes on plants and grass in the morning.

vocabulary activity: Find the vocabulary words in the word search below.

C

Q

V

W

Z

J

L

F

Y

A

Q

D

B

X

L

T

T

W

O

Q

E

C

X

N

T

O

Y

E

B

L

Y

D

C

U

A

B

D

L

C

H

B

M

X

F

N

U

Q

H

O

N

V

E

R

O

Y

C

F

S

R

Q

D

W

R

P

U

V

R

O

W

V

T

S

E

H

A

T

U

Y

Z

H

T

Q

P

A

H

D

P

K

M

N

V

J

O

A

B

E

E

X

R

W

O

T

S

O

S

E

M

A

H

S

L

G

D

D

R

O

E

I

Y

W

F

S

Q

D

S

Y

E

X

P

I

N

T

E

M

Y

R

I

I

F

J

W

J

K

N

H

O

H

H

Z

A

S

G

O

X

F

L

C

X

B

N

G

Q

A

D

Y

N

I

K

M

A

T

U

F

C

D

Q

P

L

Y

X

K

Y

P

Q

N

M

A

R

R

A

N

T

V

Y

P

T

A

W

J

A

A

I

N

I

T

A

I

M

U

O

O

Y

F

E

J

D

B

T

C

R

K

P

E

F

N

Arrant                              Dew       Coward                              Shame Notion                              Proper
Grammar Point:  Adjectives are words that describe nouns (persons, places or things.) Find the adjectives that are used in the poem. Grammar Activity: Find and circle each adjective used in the poem. Then write down how the word is being used and what it is helping to describe.