It is written in
iambicheptameter, as it is written in iambs and contains seven metrical feet per line, each of which can be considered a
fourteener, as each iamb consists of two syllables.
In popular culture
In 1885, the poem was disfavored by the
British Quarterly Review, preferring Stevenson's other poems including The Hayloft, Farewell to the Farm, and The North-West Passage.[5]
In 1948, former U.S. President
Harry S. Truman recalled the lines, "I have a little shadow / That goes in and out with me; / And what can be the use of him / Is more than I can see" to refer to the Republican candidate "running along behind him."[9][10]
In October 1994, the poem was featured in the twelfth season of
Reading Rainbow. The poem was read aloud by actor Robert Guillaume. [12]
References
^Primary Education - Volume 29 - Page 311 1921 DEAR to the hearts of all children are the poems of Robert Louis Stevenson. Perhaps no one of his poems is more popular than "My Shadow." Its song-like rhythm is a delight to the ear and the " story " makes a strong .
^Grasping Shadows: The Dark Side of Literature, Painting, ... - Page 68 0190675276
William Chapman Sharpe - 2017 And in all of these characteristics, the child's shadow anticipates the much more traumatic split of “me” and “not-me” in Stevenson's most famous work, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). The enduring popularity of “My Shadow” as .
^Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: 1623761255
Truman, Harry S. - 1963 "That made me think of something I used to hear a long time ago, that went: I have a little shadow That goes in and out with me; And what can be the use of him Is more than I can see. That has several connotations, if you want to think about it ..."