When I was down beside the sea A wooden spade they gave to me To dig the sandy shore. My holes were empty like a cup. In every hole the sea came up, Till it could come no more.
Robert Louis Stevenson's Songs for Children
by Edith Swepstone (flourished 1887-1915)
1. At the sea side  [sung text not yet checked]
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "At the sea-side", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. My ship and I  [sung text not yet checked]
O it's I that am the captain of a tidy little ship Of a ship that goes a sailing on the pond. And my ship it keeps a turning all around and all about, But when I'm a little older I shall find the secret out How to send my vessel sailing on beyond. For I mean to grow as little as the dolly on the helm And the dolly I intend to come alive And with him beside to help me it's a sailing I shall go, It's a sailing on the water where the jolly breezes blow And the vessel goes a divie divie dive. O it's then you'll see me sailing through the rushes and the reeds And you'll hear the water singing at the prow. For beside the dolly sailor I'm to voyage and explore To land upon the island where no dolly was before And I'll fire the penny cannon on the bow!
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "My ship and I", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Sylvain Labartette) , "Moi et mon bateau", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
3. The wind  [sung text not yet checked]
I saw you toss the kites on high And blow the birds about the sky; And all around I heard you pass, Like ladies' skirts across the grass -- O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song! I saw the different things you did, But always you yourself you hid. I felt you push, I heard you call, I could not see yourself at all -- O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song! O you that are so strong and cold, O blower, are you young or old? Are you a beast of field and tree, Or just a stronger child than me? O wind, a-blowing all day long, O wind, that sings so loud a song!
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The wind", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
4. The sun's travels  [sung text not yet checked]
The sun is not a-bed, when I At night upon my pillow lie; Still round the earth his way he takes, And morning after morning makes. While here at home, in shining day, We round the sunny garden play, Each little Indian sleepy-head Is being kissed and put to bed. And when at eve I rise from tea, Day dawns beyond the Atlantic Sea; And all the children in the west Are getting up and being dressed.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The sun's travels", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. The caravan  [sung text not yet checked]
All night long and every night, When my mama puts out the light, I see the people marching by, As plain as day, before my eye. Armies and [emperors]1 and kings, All carrying different kinds of things, And marching in so grand a way, You never saw the like by day. So fine a show was never seen At the great circus on the green; [For]2 every kind of beast and man Is marching in that caravan. At first they move a little slow, But still the faster on they go, And still beside [them]4 close I keep Until we reach the town of Sleep.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Young night thought", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses and Underwoods, New York: Current Literature, 1913.
1 Hadley: "emperor"2 omitted by F. Rzewski
4 Hadley: "me"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
6. The mill  [sung text not yet checked]
Over the borders, a sin without pardon, Breaking the branches and crawling below, Out through the breach in the wall of the garden, Down by the banks of the river, we go. Here is the mill with the humming of thunder, Here is the weir with the wonder of foam, Here is the sluice with the race running under -- Marvellous places, though handy to home! Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller, Stiller the note of the birds on the hill; Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller, Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill. Years may go by, and the wheel in the river Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day, Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever Long after all of the boys are away. Home from the Indies and home from the ocean, Heroes and soldiers we all shall come home; Still we shall [find]1 the old mill wheel in motion, Turning and churning [that]2 river to foam. You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled, I with your marble of Saturday last, Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled, Here we shall meet and remember the past.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Keepsake Mill", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Lehmann: "hear"
2 Lehmann: "the"
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller