Tusitala

A drowsy child safe in bed,
Of heroes bold I often read,
And bold the dreams that beckoned me,
Of what I might grow up to be.

A king, a clown, a gallant knight,
A wizard weaving spells at night,
A pirate of the Spanish Main,
A cowboy on the lonesome plain.

A great detective on the case,
A driver winning every race!
A famed explorer forging on
When all his friends and guides are gone.

A rocket-man upon the moon,
A minstrel with a magic tune -
Such dreams were mine, but now I find,
My life is of another kind.

It is my turn to tell the tales,
That far-off filled my midnight sails,
That children stepping from the shore,
Might read, and sleep and dream once more.

The link to the first poem

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ag73ww_ZQKqczaEA1S1Bdv4gBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20081007122007AATjUMG

For the curious, Tusitala was the Samoan name for R.L.Stevenson. I always envied it.