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Bed in Summer

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.

 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.

 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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Comments

  • Expat
    February 18
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    Childhood memories

    This poem reminds me of my childhood holidays in Scarborough Yorkshire when I could hear the swifts calling as they flew round the rooftops & I didn't want to go to bed as it was still sunny & I was on holiday
    Expat

  • pozo
    June 15, 2005
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    I, too, had this poem as a child. I think I agreed with it to some extent This was a very interesting write, I like how he got into the mind of a child.
    Pozo

  • Jobob
    September 7, 2004
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    This was in my reading book as a child, and it really resonated with me. Like Louis Stevenson, I'm from Scotland, and although the winters can be cold and sometimes snowy, they're usually pretty temperate, certainly compared to other places on the same latitude. We are far enough North, though, that the difference in length between summer's day and winter's day can be quite staggering. In June, the sun stays above the horizon until 10pm, whereas in December it sets at 3pm or so.

    I can remember going to bed at 8pm or so in summer and lying in a bright room, the red curtains making everything glow strange colours, listening to the sounds of the street. I ended up thinking very much the same thing!


  • March 26, 2004
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    good

    good