From Child's Garden of Verses <br /> <br />I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, <br />And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. <br />He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; <br />And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed. <br /> <br />The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow-- <br />Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow; <br />For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball, <br />And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all. <br /> <br />He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play, <br />And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way. <br />He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see; <br />I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me! <br /> <br />One morning, very early, before the sun was up, <br />I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup; <br />But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head, <br />Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.<br /><br />Robert Louis Stevenson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-shadow/
