The Land of Counterpane | When I was sick and lay a-bed

The Land of Counterpane

Language: English

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

First published in Magazine of Art, July 1884

Text Authorship:

by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894), "The Land of Counterpane", appears in A Child's Garden of Verses, first published 1885 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by George Whitefield Chadwick (1854 - 1931), "The Land of Counterpane", published 1897 [ voice and piano ], from The Stevenson Song-Book [sung text not yet checked]
by Ethel Crowningshield , "The Land of Counterpane", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], from Robert Louis Stevenson Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Edward Jager (b. 1939), "The Land of Counterpane" [ soprano and piano ], from A Child's Garden of Verses [sung text not yet checked]
by William Otto Miessner (1880 - 1967), "The Land of Counterpane", published 1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Marvin Radnor , "The Land of Counterpane", published 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Thomas Griffen (Griffin?) Shepard (1848 - 1905), "The Land of Counterpane", published 1901 [ voice and piano ], from A cycle of songs [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-12-07
Line count: 16
Word count: 102