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?
3 responses so far ↓
1 Annie in Austin // Jul 1, 2008 at 12:45 pm
This poem is still meaningful nearly a century after Robert Louis Stevenson wrote it - nice one, MA.
And kids still learn it by heart - there are some funny recitations of “Bed In Summer” on YouTube!
How late does it stay light in Idaho? We’re so far south that there’s less change in day length from summer to winter - sundown is 8:30 PM.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
2 Carol, May Dreams Gardens // Jul 1, 2008 at 5:40 pm
It stays light here at the height of summer until nearly 10 PM. A fitting poem for this time of year!
3 Julie // Jul 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Dear Mary Ann,
I hadn’t read or thought of this poem in so many years! Thank you. And it’s still true, but my problem now is on the morning end — waking up so early with the early sun, before the dogs, even!
Happy 4th of July,
Julie
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