Poetry is a simple thing to enjoy. Pick a poet. Read a poem for the enjoyment of it. Listen to the rhythm of the words. Hear the music in them. We’ve picked a few poems by Robert Louis Stevenson to share with you this month.
Biography
Stevenson authored many books as well as poetry. You may recognize titles such as Treasure Island and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but he also penned A Child’s Garden of Verses in 1885. He was influenced by Shakespeare, John Bunyan, Sir Walter Scott, and many readings of The Arabian Nights. His works fell out of favor due to an appeal to the modernist aesthetic and by the criticism of Virginia Woolf (stream of consciousness). Yet today, he is among the most translated authors of all time, his works ranking 25th above even Charles Dickens and Edgar Allen Poe.
Check out this biography of Robert Louis Stevenson on the Poetry Foundation https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-louis-stevenson
Poems
Resources
Websites:
Books:
- A Child’s Garden of Verses (free)
- A Child’s Garden of Verses, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
- Treasure Island (free)
- Kidnapped (free)
- Poetry for Young People: Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo of Poet:
By John Singer Sargent – http://www.artrenewal.org/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1714188