Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894). A Child’s Garden of Verses and Underwoods. 1913.
7. The Gardener
T
He makes me keep the gravel walk;
And when he puts his tools away,
He locks the door and takes the key.
Where no one else but cook may go,
Far in the plots, I see him dig,
Old and serious, brown and big.
Nor wishes to be spoken to.
He digs the flowers and cuts the hay,
And never seems to want to play.
And winter comes with pinching toes,
When in the garden bare and brown
You must lay your barrow down.
To profit by these garden days
O how much wiser you would be
To play at Indian wars with me!