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.
Four songs for children
Song Cycle by Muriel Thomas
?. Where go the boats?  [sung text not yet checked]
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
?. Shadow march  [sung text not yet checked]
All around the house is the jet-black night; It stares through the window-pane; It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light, And it moves with the moving flame. Now my little heart goes a beating like a drum, With the breath of the Bogies in my hair; And all around the candle the crooked shadows come, And go marching along up the stair. The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp, The shadow of the child that goes to bed -- All the wicked shadows coming tramp, tramp, tramp, With the black night overhead.
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Shadow march", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, in Northwest Passage, no. 2
See other settings of this text.
First published in Magazine of Art, March 1884Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
?. Farewell to the farm  [sung text not yet checked]
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!
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 swing  [sung text not yet checked]
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