GARDEN  OF  VERSES

My beautiful mother was a notorious flirt with many men trying to court her.  But "La Donna e  mobile" and she kept her suiters at a distance, settling for their treat of late dinner (supper) almost every night.

This meant that my mother was usually home at my bedtime. 

Each evening she would read from one of two books that I loved:

Scampy: The Little Black Cocker by Dorothy K. L'Hommedieu, with illustrations by Marguerite Kirmse. Author Dorothy also wrote other child-pleasing books like Tinker: The little Fox Terrier, and British emigre artist Marguerite specialized in illustrating dog-themed books.

A Child's Garden of Verses by renowned Scottish Author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).   (As a teen-ager I enjoyed his Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.)

In between the adventures of my beloved Scampy, my four-year-old brain was tuned to Stevenson's verses. Some of which were thought-provoking in my young life. Like:

 

Bed in Summer

In Winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light.

In Summer quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

Ah! So true when you are a youngster. I hated that.

I thought:

"Isn't it a shameful waste

To sleep when there is life to taste!"

But I was a good kid (at least at that time) and always obeyed my mother.

Whole Duty of Children

A child should always say what's true

And speak when he is spoken to,

And behave mannerly at table;

At least as far as he is able.

My mother took a lot of time trying to teach me to be a young gentleman. She emphasized the following:

1. When walking with a lady, always stay on the street side so that she won't be splattered by speeding vehicles.

2.  Always say "Thank You" to anyone helping you in any way.

3.  Always listen to the other person's viewpoint when engaging in a conversation.

4.  Always remember that skin color means nothing when it comes to intelligence and ability. We are all alike, and everyone should be treated equally.

5.  Say "yes, sir" and "no, sir" to your elders.  Be respectful to teachers and relatives.

That's a lot to remember when you are a pre-teen.

 

Some of the Garden's verses were scary for a little kid.

My Shadow

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;

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!

For a while, I thought that my shadow was a living creature. 

I love these verses.  They bring back pleasant memories of my life with my mother.

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