by Robert Louis Stevenson
The coach is at the door at last'
The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow-gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we swing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!
~ A Child's Garden of Verses, published in 1885. RLS was born in Scotland (1850 - 1894) Regarded as classics: Treasure Island, The Master of Ballantrae and Kidnapped.
A Child's Garden of Verses was slowly put together by Stevenson as a diversion from his fictional work ~ as his wife comments, he "plucked a blossom here and there..." Based largely on his own childhood it is an inspiring collection which has captured the imaginations of children for generations.
