The poem "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson is about a boy observing his shadow and its changing shapes and behaviors. In 3 sentences: The boy notices his shadow follows him everywhere but wonders what its purpose is, as it changes sizes rapidly from very tall to almost invisible. One morning when the boy wakes before the sun rises, he does not see his shadow and assumes it is still asleep, not realizing shadows only form with sunlight.

1. Poem – My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
Presentation by – Niharika Jain
( Ba + B.Ed. )

2. My shadow -

3. About the Poet-
Robert Louis Stevenson was a very prominent Scottish
poet and author. He has written many books on fiction and
travel. Some of his notable works are ‘Treasure Island’,
‘Kidnapped’ and ‘Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’.

4. Stanza 1-
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me.
in and out with me.
And what can be the use of him is
more than I 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

5. Explanation –
In the above stanza, the poet says that he has a little shadow
that keeps following him wherever he goes. At the same time,
the poet also wonders what is the use of shadow. The shadow’s
appearance is just like the poet from toe to head. The poet also
observes that his shadow goes to bed before him. He is
fascinated by the shadow and very curious to know more about
him

6. Stanza 2
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.

7. Explanation –
In this stanza, the poet is curious to observe how the shadow keeps
changing his shape. The poet finds it funny. He compares his shadow
with other children and says that he does not behave like them. Other
children are generally slow in everything but the shadow is way
faster than them in changing forms. The poet observes that
sometimes, the shadow becomes taller than him like a huge rubber
ball and sometimes he becomes very small.

8. Stanza 3 –
One morning, very clearly, before the
sun I 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

9. Explanation-
In the last stanza, the poet says that one day he woke up early morning
before the sunrise. He went out to see the flowers and he found morning
dew on each petal but he did not find his shadow behind. The poet calls
his shadow lazy because he thought that he was still sleeping. The fact
is, shadows are formed when sunlight falls on your body. Since the sun
did not rise still when the poet woke up, he did not find the shadow. The
poet was confused and wondered why his shadow did not wake up
when he went to bed at night before the poet. The poet thinks that the
shadow plays tricks with him all the time.

10. Conclusion-
The poem tells the readers that children are so
naïve and innocent. Their imaginations and
observations are wide and full of curiosity