| |
Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.
Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.
Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.
When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.
Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding cake.
This poem is in the public domain.
|
.jpg)
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894) was a Scottish author whose gift for writing ranged from poetry and fiction to travelogues and essays. For many of us, Stevenson was perhaps the first poet to whom we were introduced, through his wonderful book, A Child's Garden of Verses. We may have encountered him again in our youth, in the exotic pages of Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Always sickly, Robert left his beloved Scotland and spent the latter half of his life in the kinder climate of the South Sea islands. He died much too young and is buried in Samoa, where his tomb is engraved with lines from his poem, "Requiem:" "Under the wide and starry sky/dig the grave and let me lie."
 
|
|
blueskies:
What a pure joy! Thanks RLS & Jayne!
Posted 01/29/2017 09:55 AM
|
KevinArnold:
Isn't RLS wonderful though?
Posted 01/29/2017 09:06 AM
|
cork:
And we must remove snow drifts this pink morning.
Posted 01/29/2017 08:28 AM
|
Sharon Waller Knutson:
I love Robert Louis Stevenson. I enjoyed his metaphors and similes: “a frosty fiery sleepy head” and “blood red orange” and “hill and tree and house and hill and lake frosted like a wedding cake.”
Posted 01/29/2017 07:59 AM
|
JanetruthMartin:
love this. esp. the imagery in the last two lines!
Posted 01/29/2017 06:50 AM
|
Jean :D:
Our regular bedtime story read to my sister & me, when very young, was a selection from 'A Child's Garden of Verses' but unfortunately never heard this one. This covers the whole winter scene!
Posted 01/29/2017 06:12 AM
|
rhonasheridan:
My brother often said "A lot of frosty pepper today!" - now I know where he got it from! Loved the poem.
Posted 01/29/2017 03:29 AM
|
|
|
|
My Cart 
