The Lamplighter (poem)

The Lamplighter is a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson published in 1885 in Penny Whistles (better known today as A Child's Garden of Verses).

This poem may be autobiographical. Stevenson was sickly growing up (probably tuberculosis), thus "when I am stronger" may refer to his hope of recovery. Further, his illness isolated him, so the loneliness expressed in the poem would fit well with his own childhood.

There may also be some nostalgia reflected in the poem. In 1881, Stevenson published the essay, "A Plea For Gas Lamps," in "Virginibus Puerisque, and Other Papers." In this essay, he sentimentally upholds gas lamps against electric lights, describing electric light as "that ugly blinding glare" and "a lamp for a nightmare." In the same essay, he describes the lamplighter as one punching holes in the night and as one worthy of being immortalized in a Greek myth, but one whose task has been overtaken by automatic electric ignition of the gas lights. Because Penny Whistles was published 4 years later, it may represent a similar theme.

Footnotes

1. ^ http://www.rampantscotland.com/poetry/blpoems_lamplighter.htm
2. ^ http://innerbest.com/articles/lamplighter.html
3. ^ http://www.biblio.com/author_biographies/2003081/Robert_Louis_Stevenson.html
4. ^ http://www.stevenson-house.co.uk/robert-louis-stevenson.html
5. ^ http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stevenson/robert_louis/s848vi/chapter12.html