My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,  And what can be the use of him is more than I can 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.  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 goes so little that there's none of him at all.  He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,  And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.  He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;  I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!  One morning, very early, before the sun 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.