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Songs from "A Child's Garden of Verses"

Song Cycle by Natalie Burlin Curtis (1875 - 1921)

?. At the seashore  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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.

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "At the sea-side", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885

See other settings of this text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. System  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Every night my prayers I say,
And get my dinner every day;
And every day that I've been good,
I get an orange after food.

The child that is not clean and neat,
With lots of toys and things to eat,
He is a naughty child, I'm sure --
Or else his dear papa is poor.

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "System", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885

See other settings of this text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. Farewell to the farm  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
The coach is at the door at last;
The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow-gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Farewell to the farm", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885

See other settings of this text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. The wind  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
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

See other settings of this text.

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

First published in Magazine of Art, July 1884

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. Rain  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Rain", 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) (Anyi Sharma) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Pioggia", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. Time to rise  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon the window sill,
Cocked his shining eye and said:
"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head?"

Text Authorship:

  • by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Time to rise", 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) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Ora di alzarsi", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

?. The swing  [sung text not yet checked]

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!

Text 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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 442
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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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