Lyric Poem · For Kids

My Shadow

by Robert Louis Stevenson · 1885

Reading room

1I HAVE a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

2And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

3He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

4And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

5The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—

6Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

7For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

8And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

9He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,

10And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

11He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;

12I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

13One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

14I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

15But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,

16Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

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“My Shadow” by Robert Louis Stevenson — quilloak.com/poems/my-shadow

Quick facts

Poem: My Shadow
Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: 1885
Length: 16 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Rhyming Poems
Themes: For Kids, Funny

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
End rhyme: AABB in 75% of the stanzas — couplets. The remaining stanzas vary, often through slant rhyme.
Line length: Lines run 13-16 syllables (median 15). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Robert Louis Stevenson1850–1894
Source record: WikisourceMy Shadow by robert-louis-stevenson, Wikisource transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: 1885
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 b327ac4f6f8013d6…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Rhyming Poems For Kids Funny

My Shadow

Quick facts

How this poem works

A traceable edition

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