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.
Child Lyrics , opus 67
by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927)
1. Where go the boats?  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Where go the boats?", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Dove vanno le barche?", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
2. Fairy bread  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
Come up here. O dusty feet! Here is fairy bread to eat. Here in my retiring room, Children, you may dine On the golden smell of broom And the shade of pine; And when you have eaten well, Fairy stories hear and tell.
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Fairy bread", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller3. Song of Bed‑time  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
In winter I get up at night, And dress by yellow candle light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Bed in summer", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Letto in estate", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
4. The friendly cow  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
The friendly cow all red and white, I love with all my heart. She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple tart. She wanders lowing here and there, And yet she cannot stray, All in the pleasant open air, The pleasant light of day; And blown by all the winds that pass And wet with all the showers, She walks among the meadow grass And eats the meadow flowers.
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The cow", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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First published in Magazine of Art, July 1884Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
5. The swing  [sung text checked 1 time]
Language: English
How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do! Up in the air and over the wall, Till I can see so wide, Rivers and trees and cattle and all Over the countryside - Till I look down on the garden green, Down on the roof so brown - Up in the air I go flying again, Up in the air and down!
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The swing", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Sylvain Labartette) , "La balançoire", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission