The Lamplighter Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Lamplighter
My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky.
It's time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at teatime and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.
Now Tom would be a driver and Maria go to sea,
And my papa's a banker and as rich as he can be;
But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do,
O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you!
For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;
And oh! before you hurry by with ladder and with light;
O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night!
Romaticism? Don't know anything about it. I do know however that RLS was a sickly child, often ill and therefore confined to his room and bed. I think the key to this poem is in the line But I, when I am stronger. The child is telling us that he is ill and that being so condemns him to a dreary, very lonely existence, with little humn comfort, so much so that the simple clip clop of the horse's shoes on the cobbles outside brings excitement in the knowledge that the lamplighter is coming. He yearns just to be noticed by another human being - to relieve his dreadful boredom - and that even a nod of acknowledgement from the leerie would bring him comfort. A brilliant sketch, in three short verses, of a very meaningful period in the life of RLS himself. magical and sad at the same time.
Sorry, Keith, but lamplighters in 19th and the first half of the 20th century went on foot. No horses for them.
Yes he was a sickly child but very much loved...and of course this is where he began his writing and where his imagination took flight and gave us so many classic and wonderful poems and stories..
this poem once appeared in my exams, and from then, i have always admired this poem.there are few memorable lines But I, when I am stronger and can choose what I'm to do, O Leerie, I'll go round at night and light the lamps with you! and And oh! before you hurry by with ladder and with light; O Leerie, see a little child and nod to him to-night! the poem rhymes, such a cute poem, the depiction of child in innocent.he chooses to light lamps than being a hotshot banker.
Twice chosen by Poem Hunter and Team as The Modern Poem Of The Day. CONGRATULATIONS! Most deseerving and again TOP Marks! Thank you for sharing
OK, I guess I can NOT send a message to Robert, ....wherever he may be. RIP.
And, as a kid, and later a father, I've lived where Santa Claus (and his reindeer) and The Easter Bunny have visited once a year. : ) bri
In my lifetime I've lived in houses to which coal (for my parents' furnace) , milk (for the household) , & washable diapers (for my daughter) have been delivered. : )
***** FIVE STARS I think I've watched movies of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde. bri : ) bri : )
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/2/2024 1:17:05 AM # 1.0.0
i dont have comments really but i want two ask u two questions 1 st pon the summary of the poem 2 nd one how old do u think is the boy? give reosons