Foreign Children

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



Little Indian, Sioux, or Crow,
Little frosty Eskimo,
Little Turk or Japanee,
Oh! don't you wish that you were me?

You have seen the scarlet trees
And the lions over seas;
You have eaten ostrich eggs,
And turned the turtle off their legs.

Such a life is very fine,
But it's not so nice as mine:
You must often as you trod,
Have wearied NOT to be abroad.

You have curious things to eat,
I am fed on proper meat;
You must dwell upon the foam,
But I am safe and live at home.
Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
Little frosty Eskimo,
Little Turk or Japanee,
Oh! don't you wish that you were me?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

35 sec read
260

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABC ddee bbxx ffggAABC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 592
Words 116
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 8

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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