“My Shadow” by Robert Louise Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out of 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 his 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, he’s a coward you can see;

I’d think shame to stick to nursies 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.