Winter-Time

Robert Louis Stevenson · 1885

Catalog grade guidance: K–5 — Short children’s lyric; good for early memorization and reading aloud.

22 content lines · 136 words · Est. recitation about 1 min 22 sec (approx.)

Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Project Gutenberg #136.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.

Winter-Time

  Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
  A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
  Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
  A blood-red orange, sets again.

  Before the stars have left the skies,
  At morning in the dark I rise;
  And shivering in my nakedness,
  By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

  Close by the jolly fire I sit
  To warm my frozen bones a bit;
  Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
  The colder countries round the door.

  When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
  Me in my comforter and cap;
  The cold wind burns my face, and blows
  Its frosty pepper up my nose.

  Black are my steps on silver sod;
  Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
  And tree and house, and hill and lake,
  Are frosted like a wedding cake.


                                           XXXIX