Bring the comb and play upon it! Marching, here we come! Willie cocks his highland bonnet, Johnnie beats the drum. Mary Jane commands the party, Peter leads the rear; Feet in time, alert and hearty, Each a Grenadier! All in the most martial manner Marching double-quick; While the napkin like a banner Waves upon the stick! Here's enough of fame and pillage, Great commander Jane! Now that we've been round the village, Let's go home again.
Six songs from "A Child's Garden of Verses"
Song Cycle by Caroline Susan Theodora Grosvenor (1858 - 1940?)
?. Marching song  [sung text not yet checked]
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "Marching song", 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]
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.
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]?. 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!
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "My ship and I", 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) , "Moi et mon bateau", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
?. 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!
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
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
?. My shadow  [sung text not yet checked]
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed. The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow -- Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow; For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all. He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play, And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way. He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see; I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me! One morning, very early, before the sun was up, I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup; But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
Authorship:
- by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "My shadow", 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