Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson

A Child's Garden of Verses. 31. My Bed is a Boat

My bed is like a little boat;
    Nurse helps me in when I embark; 
She girds me in my sailor's coat
    And starts me in the dark.

At night I go on board and say
    Good-night to all my friends on shore; 
I shut my eyes and sail away
    And see and hear no more.

And sometimes things to bed I take,
    As prudent sailors have to do; 
Perhaps a slice of wedding-cake,
    Perhaps a toy or two.

All night across the dark we steer;
    But when the day returns at last, 
Safe in my room beside the pier,
    I find my vessel fast.

1. Songs of Travel and Other Verses. 13. Mater Triumphans
2. About the Sheltered Garden Ground
3. An English Breeze
4. To Sydney
5. Sonet VI. As in the Hostel by the Bridge I Sate

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