(this is the actual illustration that goes along with the poem)Foreign Children
Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
Little frosty Eskimo,
Little Turk or Japanee,
Oh! don't you wish that you were me?
You have seen the scarlet trees
And the lions over seas;
You have eaten ostrich eggs,
And turned the turtles off their legs.
Such a life is very fine,
But it's not so nice as mine:
You must often, as you trod,
Have wearied not to be abroad.
You have curious things to eat,
I am fed on proper meat;
You must dwell beyond the foam,
But I am safe and live at home.
Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
Little frosty Eskimo,
Little Turk or Japanee,
Oh! don't you wish that you were me?
-Robert Louis Stevenson-
2 comments:
Haha, wow! Talk about political incorrectness, not to mention some straight-up white supremacy. All in a kids book, no less. I guess when that poem was written it was a different time, another world. And that illustration just cracks me up. Thanks, Bria.
I came across this same poem when my children were young and I was just blushing for its author. How things have changed! Now we are so-so-much more subtle in our prejudices...
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