A Child's Garden of Verses. Robert Louis Stevenson

on the highway, low and loud,

      By at the gallop goes he.

      By at the gallop he goes, and then

      By he comes back at the gallop again.

      X

      TRAVEL

      I SHOULD like to rise and go

      Where the golden apples grow; —

      Where below another sky

      Parrot islands anchored lie,

      And, watched by cockatoos and goats,

      Lonely Crusoes building boats; —

      Where in sunshine reaching out

      Eastern cities, miles about,

      Are with mosque and minaret

      Among sandy gardens set,

      And the rich goods from near and far

      Hang for sale in the bazaar;

      Where the Great Wall round China goes,

      And on one side the desert blows,

      And with bell and voice and drum,

      Cities on the other hum; —

      Where are forests, hot as fire,

      Wide as England, tall as a spire,

      Full of apes and cocoa-nuts

      And the negro hunters' huts; —

      Where the knotty crocodile

      Lies and blinks in the Nile,

      And the red flamingo flies

      Hunting fish before his eyes; —

      Where in jungles, near and far,

      Man-devouring tigers are,

      Lying close and giving ear

      Lest the hunt be drawing near,

      Or a comer-by be seen

      Swinging in a palanquin; —

      Where among the desert sands

      Some deserted city stands,

      All its children, sweep and prince,

      Grown to manhood ages since,

      Not a foot in street or house,

      Not a stir of child or mouse,

      And when kindly falls the night,

      In all the town no spark of light.

      There I'll come when I'm a man

      With a camel caravan;

      Light a fire in the gloom

      Of some dusty dining room;

      See the pictures on the walls,

      Heroes, fights and festivals;

      And in a corner find the toys

      Of the old Egyptian boys.

      XI

      SINGING

      OF speckled eggs the birdie sings

      And nests among the trees;

      The sailor sings of ropes and things

      In ships upon the seas.

      The children sing in far Japan,

      The children sing in Spain;

      The organ with the organ man

      Is singing in the rain.

      XII

      LOOKING FORWARD

      WHEN I am grown to man's estate

      I shall be very proud and great.

      And tell the other girls and boys

      Not to meddle with my toys.

      XIII

      A GOOD PLAY

      WE built a ship upon the stairs

      All made of the back-bedroom chairs,

      And filled it full of sofa pillows

      To go a-sailing on the billows.

      We took a saw and several nails,

      And water in the nursery pails;

      And Tom said, 'Let us also take

      An apple and a slice of cake;' —

      Which was enough for Tom and me

      To go a-sailing on till tea.

      We sailed along for days and days,

      And had the very best of plays;

      But Tom fell out and hurt his knee,

      So there was no one left but me.

      XIV

      WHERE GO THE BOATS?

      DARK brown is the river,

      Golden is the sand.

      It flows along for ever,

      With trees on either hand.

      Green leaves a-floating,

      Castles of the foam,

      Boats of mine a-boating —

      Where will all come home?

      On goes the river

      And out past the mill,

      Away down the valley,

      Away down the hill.

      Away down the river,

      A hundred miles or more,

      Other little children

      Shall bring my boats ashore.

      XV

      AUNTIE'S SKIRTS

      WHENEVER Auntie moves around,

      Her dresses make a curious sound;

      They trail behind her up the floor,

      And trundle after through the door.

      XVI

      THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE

      WHEN I was sick and lay a-bed,

      I had two pillows at my head,

      And all my toys beside me lay

      To keep me happy all the day.

      And sometimes for an hour or so

      I watched my leaden soldiers go,

      With different uniforms and drills,

      Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

      And sometimes sent my ships in fleets

      All up and down among the sheets;

      Or brought my trees and houses out,

      And planted cities all about.

      I was the giant great and still

      That sits upon the pillow-hill,

      And sees before him, dale and plain,

      The pleasant land of counterpane.

      XVII

      THE LAND OF NOD

      FROM breakfast on through all the day

      At home among my friends I stay;

      But every night I go abroad

      Afar into the land of Nod.

      All by myself I have to go,

      With none to tell me what to do —

      All