Explore "The Unseen Playmate" by Robert Louis Stevenson on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
When children are playing alone on the green, / In comes the playmate that never was seen.
When children are happy and lonely and good, / The Friend of the Children comes out of the wood.
Nobody heard him and nobody saw, / His is a picture you never could draw, / But he's sure to be present, abroad or at home, / When children are happy and playing alone.
He lies in the laurels, he runs on the grass, / He sings when you tinkle the musical glass; / Whene'er you are happy and cannot tell why, / The Friend of the Children is sure to be by!
He loves to be little, he hates to be big, / 'Tis he that inhabits the caves that you dig; / 'Tis he when you play with your soldiers of tin / That sides with the Frenchman and never can win.
'Tis he, when at night you go off to your bed, / Bids you go to your sleep and not trouble your head; / For wherever they're lying, in cupboard or shelf, / 'Tis he will take care of your playthings himself.