Dear tsuwm: But if I had stopped with the sweeping generalization, I couldn't have posted the word.And it was a trap to detect lurkers.

My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more then I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow,
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
for sometimes he shoots up taller like an Indian rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there is none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
he stays so close behind me he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow like an arrant sleepy-head,
had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.