If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share I were as in my boyhood, and could be Scarce seem'd a vision,-I would ne'er have striven I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! Make me thy lyre, ev'n as the forest is: Drive my dead thoughts over the universe, The Little Land Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850. He was educated to be an engineer like his forefathers, but gave up at the age of twenty-one to study law. This was, however, less to his taste than engineering, and he toiled incessantly at his study of literature. His first book, An Inland Voyage, appeared in 1878. He fell in love with Mrs. Fanny Osbourne who later nursed him back to health during his illness in San Francisco. They were married and spent much of their time traveling about Europe and America for his health. Stevenson's last years were spent in Samoa where he did some of his best literary work. "Treasure Island" brought him immediate recognition. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Kidnapped" also added to his fame. "Virginibus Puerisque" is one of his volumes of essays. He is also popular for his children's poetry, in the well-known volume, A Child's Garden of Verse. Stevenson died in 1894 and was buried on top of a mountain overlooking his home in Samoa. This is pure childish fancy. Do not, however, make it too "babyish" in delivery. Retain dignity, but show the spirit of childhood. Bring out the rhyme scheme well, but preserve a proper proportion between the thought and the music. WHEN at home I sit And am very tired of it, I have just to shut my eyes High o'erhead the Bumblebee In that forest to and fro Where the ladybird alit. I can climb the jointed grass; See the water swallows pass And the round sun rolling by Through that forest I can pass Little thoughtful creatures sit See me sailing with surprise. When my eyes I once again That I could be A sailor on the rain-pool sea, A climber in the clover tree, Late at night to go to bed. Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons. Little Boy Blue Eugene Field Eugene Field was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1850, and died in Chicago in 1895. He was probably the most popular writer of children's verse in America. He wrote his verses in the midst of a busy life as a journalist. "Little Boy Blue" is justly counted as one of the masterpieces of verse dealing with children. It is, however, more revelatory of a father's or mother's feelings for the child than of the feelings of the child itself. The tone is that of supreme affection. At times the voice is almost choked with sobs. There are "tears in the voice" all the way through. Vividly place yourself in the father's or mother's place and you cannot but succeed. THE little toy dog is covered with dust, But sturdy and staunch he stands; And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue "Now, don't you go till I come," he said, And, as he was dreaming, an angel song Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand, |