My Shadow
- Robert Louis Stevenson

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.