Sometimes in the past, a poet did not become known for his work as a poet. Instead, it was thanks to an entirely different literary legacy that made the poet famous. Robert Louis Stevenson was such a person. Think Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, to name just two of his works. Yet My Shadow is certainly not in the shadow (pun deliberately chosen) of these other literary highlights. Time, therefore, for Stevenson’s shadow.

Photo after an original of Wikimedia Commons.
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Classics
Still, one cannot avoid naming the classics when it comes to Stevenson. After all, he is now known more for his books, than for his poems. Fans of poetry may react indignantly. There may have been insufficient search for good poems by Stevenson, or it may simply have to do with the fact that so little attention has been paid to these qualities of Stevenson.
Stevenson's life story
His father had some concerns about continuing the family business. The business activities consisted of designing lighthouses. Indeed, it would later turn out that there was no future here for son dear. After the age of 18, he would not only change his name from Lewis to Louis. He would also change part of his surname. Thus Balfour would be dropped (1873) and later he would change his surname from Stevenson to Stevenson. This was actually during the period when he started working seriously as a writer.
One-sided love
Fanny
By order of his doctors, Stevenson spent some time on the French Riviera following health problems. The warm climate was better for his health, but from 1874 he could simply be found on the British island again. France did remain attractive to him, as he returned with some regularity. The return to Britain was also related to the study of law that Stevenson would complete in 1875. Yet he would never avail himself of this study. He wanted to spend his life as a writer.
Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
Uit Requiem van Robert Louis Stevenson
Curiosity
The poem reflects curiosity. Not just any curiosity. It is about a child’s curiosity. Besides curiosity, wonder plays a big role. In every way, it looks like this poem was written by a child. Just look at the way this poem is structured. Four stanzas, with four lines each. That may not even be surprising or an indication that it could have been written by a child. A clue that it could be is the rhyme scheme, aabb, ccdd and so on. A simple rhyme scheme. Now this is more common and adults follow such rhyme schemes as well. The playful tone also does not have to mean anything at all. All in all, though, it might make you doubt, when you know nothing about this poem.
Literary techniques
Personification
Simile
Repetition
Interpretation
How should we interpret this poem? Is this a paean to the delightful simplicity of how a child thinks and the imagination of curiosity? Or is there more to it? Is it an attempt to show us that these are tentative beginnings of a discovery of a world that may not be so innocent? A world that may have a dark edge. On the other hand, the latter need not be so, for the poem contains enough quips to negate that thought. Then it would indeed be about that wonderful, innocent childlike playfulness.
So, try to find your shadow!
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.
Robert Louis Stevenson