My Shadow

  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 gets 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 beside 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! ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON