The Shadow

By

Robert Louis Stevenson

The 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 gets 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 beside 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.

Central Idea: The central idea of the poem is to portray how a child gets excited and thrilled by his own shadow. The child is curious and wonders how the shadows keep changing for everyone. He is impressed by his own shadow and so he starts noticing everything about his shadow.

Summary: The poem, "The Shadow" is written by Robert Louis Stevenson. The poet says, everyone has a shadow of himself but he cannot understand the use of it. It resembles a human being and behaves like a child. The shadow jumps when he jumps runs when he runs. The shadow follows him wherever he goes. The shadow is always behind him, never coming in front.  The poet wonders why the size of the shadow does not grow. Sometimes it becomes as large as Indian bouncing ball and shorter than nobody likes him. One day, the poet got up before the sunrise. He saw moisture on yellow flowers but he could not find his shadow with him. He thought that the shadow was still sleeping and he was lazy but he wondered if the shadow had gone to bed before him. 

Exercise

Glossary                

Word	Meaning	Urdu Meaning
Notion	Idea	سونچ، خیال
Nursie	Nurse	دایہ
Stick	Attach	چمٹ جانا
Buttercup	A small wild plant with bright yellow flowers	ایک جنگلی پیلے رنک کا چھوٹا بھول
Arrant	Bad	خراب
Sleepyhead	A person who is tired or sleepy	خواب آلوده

Reading is Fun

1. Who is the speaker of the poem? 

Answer: The speaker of the poem is a small child. 

2. What are the changes that occur in the poet's shadow? 

Answer: The shadow sometimes shoots up and sometimes gets very little. 

3. What does the speaker think of his shadow in Stanza 3? 

Answer: The poet in the stanza 3 says that the shadow has no wisdom, he is coward and sticks to him (poet). 

4. What did the speaker find one morning before the sun was up? 

Answer: The speaker (poet) found the shining dew on the every buttercup. 

Note: Buttercup is a small wild plant with bright yellow flowers. 

Buttercup 

5. Why is the shadow funny? 

Answer: Because it sometimes grows very tall and sometimes gets very short. It is coward and sticks to the poet and follows and jumps with poet. 

Language Work

1. Match the words in Column A with their opposite in Column B                                                                                                                           

Column A	Column B
a. funny	a. awake
b. fall	b. short
c. proper	c. often
d. sometimes	d. improper
e. foolish	e. serious
f. tall	f. wise
g. courageous	g. slow
h. fast	h. rise
i. asleep	i. open
j. close	j. cowardly

    

Answer                                                                                                                                                                    

Column A	Column B
a. funny	e. serious
b. fall	h. rise
c. proper	d. improper
d. sometimes	c. often
e. foolish	f. wise
f. tall	b. short
g. courageous	j. cowardly
h. fast	g. slow
i. asleep	a. awake
j. close	i.open

2. Write down words rhyming with each of the following. One has been done for you.       

Word	Rhyming Word	Rhyming Word	Rhyming Word
1. Ball	call	tall	fall>
2. Found	________	________	________
3. Shine	_________	_______	_________
4. Slow	________	________	________
5. See	_________	_______	_________
6. Way	________	________	________

   

Answer:        

Word	Rhyming Word	Rhyming Word	Rhyming Word
1. Ball	call	tall	fall
2. Found	ground	sound	round
3. Shine	fine	line	brine
4. Slow	glow	flow	yellow
5. See	bee	me	fee
6. Way	ray	day	say

Let's Talk

Did you see something funny happening in the recent past? Share it with your classmates. 

Answer: Teacher can ask every student to share the any such thing with other students. 

Let's Write

Write a few sentences on your shadow. 

Answer: My shadow is very funny. It is always with me. Sometimes is walks in front of me and other times follows me. Sometimes it gets very tall and sometimes very short. It tries to imitate me in every action.