Poetry

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 Bed in summer

By: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

He was born in Edinburgh in 1850. He studied law and worked as an advocate
in 1875. He traveled to California where he got married. He was poor in
health all his life until he died in 1894. Steven wrote some remarkable poetry
collected in “ A child’s Garden of Verses” and “ Underwoods”. Also, he was a
novelist and wrote a lot of famous novels like: The strange case of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde

Stanza 1 Stanza 2

In winter I get up at night I have to go to bed and see,

And dress by yellow candle-light. The birds still hopping on the tree,
In summer, quite the other way Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
I have to go to bed by day. Still going past me in the street.

Stanza 3

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?

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Vocabulary
Hopping : jumping on one leg.
Grown-up: adult.
Stanza 1
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.
Paraphrase
The poet is unhappy because he gets up early before sunrise in winter and at
the same time; he goes to bed before sun- set in summer as the sun sets late in
summer.

Figures of Speech:
Alliteration: “I have to go to bed by day”
The /b/ sound is repeated in [bed] and [by] to give nice music.
contrasts:
winter # summer / get up # go to bed/ night # day
The poet uses contrasts to make the meaning clearer to the readers.

Rhyme Scheme: [ a a b b ]

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 Stanza 2
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.
Paraphrase
The poet envies birds and grown-ups because they are free. He goes to be
during day, but birds jump in the trees happily and the grown- up people go
around in the streets as he can hear their footsteps very clearly.

Figures of Speech:
Alliteration: “Still going past me in the street”
The /s/ sound is repeated in [still] and [street] to give nice music.

Personification: [The birds still hopping on the tree]

The poet personifies the birds as some children who are happy and jump on
one leg.

Rhyme Scheme: [ccdd ]

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 Stanza 3
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?
Paraphrase
The poet makes it clear, by asking us a question which shows that he is sad and
it is hard for him to go to bed while the sky is clear and blue. He is supposed to
play and enjoy the beauty of nature instead of going to bed while it is still day
time.
Figures of Speech:
Alliteration: “To have to go to bed by day”
The /b/ sound is repeated in [bed] and [by] to give nice music.

Repetition: “To have to go to bed by day”

The repetition of the preposition [to] makes nice music.

Rhyme Scheme: [ e e b b ] or [ e e f f ]
What is the main idea of the poem?
The main idea of the poem is that the weather in England causes some
problems to children who have to follow certain system in their lives. The
sun rises late in winter so they find themselves get up very early when it is
still dark. The sun sets late in summer so they find themselves sleep very
early when it is still light. The poet, as a child, wants to tell us that he can't
enjoy the beauty of nature because of weather conditions in England.