Sonnet XIV. Youth's Spring-tribute

On this sweet bank your head thrice sweet and dear

I lay, and spread your hair on either side,

And see the newborn woodflowers bashful-eyed

Look through the golden tresses here and there.

On these debateable borders of the year

Spring's foot half falters; scarce she may yet know

The leafless blackthorn-blossom from the snow;

And through her bowers the wind's way still is clear.

But April's sun strikes down the glades today;

So shut your eyes upturned, and feel my kiss

Creep, as the Spring now thrills through every spray,

Up your warm throat to your warm lips: for this

Is even the hour of Love's sworn suitservice,

With whom cold hearts are counted castaway.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

It could sound strange that Stevenson's popularity might be undermined or even questioned. Nevertheless, his literary enemies came out soon after his death; he was criticized for writing imitative essays or regarded just as a writer of children's books. Only much later was his reputation established as that of originality, subtle psychology, unforgettable adventure stories with romance, irony and morality. Yet, even if Stevenson had written but one of his best novels, Treasure Island (1881) or Kidnapped (1886), Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) or The Master of Ballantrae (1889), he would have had his rightful place in the hearts of thousands of children and grown-ups.

The Scottish essayist, poet, author of fiction and travel books, Robert Louis Stevenson (Nov. 13, 1850, Edinburgh — Dec. 3, 1894, Vailima, Samoa) was the only son of Thomas Stevenson, a well-to-do civil engineer, and Margaret Isabella Balfour. Because of his weak health, he did not receive regular schooling. Still a child, he was eager to write and once resolved to learn the writing skill settled down to imitate different poetic and prose styles. At age 17, he entered Edinburgh University, with family hopes that he would continue the tradition of lighthouse engineering. Stevenson, though, had no technical inclinations and, as a compromise, he began preparing himself for the law.

In 1873, Stevenson suffered the first blow of a hard illness which made his breathing difficult, and he was sent to the French Riviera. And though in 1875 he was offered a position as a barrister, he did not undertake the job. Instead, he again went to France, which was his most frequented destination, and which eventually produced two stories —An Inland Voyage (1878) and Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879).

In 1876, Stevenson met his future love, Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne; to the horror of his family this American lady was separated from her husband. The angry emotions of the friendly relatives decreased when she went back to California two years later. But in August 1879, with a new wave of affection, Stevenson, ill and moneyless, reached her after an extremely dangerous journey, and they married in 1880. At the same time, his father offered much needed help, and after a honeymoon at an abandoned silver mine, they set out for Scotland to reunite with his parents. By then his adventures resulted in The Silverado Squatters (1883), Across the Plains (1892) and The Amateur Emigrant (1895).

Soon afterwards the doctors saw that Stevenson suffered from tuberculosis. With his wife and the stepson Lloyd Osbourne, he left for the Davos resort in Switzerland. Despite severe attacks of the illness, he set about writing Treasure Island, which began as an accidental game with Lloyd. It was serialized in the periodical Young Folks under the title The Sea-Cook in 1881.

In 1881, Stevenson published his first essay collection, Virginibus Puerisque, and again spent the winter in Davos. In April 1882 he left Davos, only to worsen his disease in the Scottish Highlands. Nevertheless, he completed two of his finest short stories, Thrawn Janet and The Merry Men, and in September he went to the south of France. He edited Prince Otto, wrote poems for A Child's Garden of Verses (first titled Penny Whistles), and started The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses (1888).

Unfortunately, the Stevensons had to leave this peaceful dwelling, as a cholera epidemic spread across the south of France, and came back to England. Those years, however, were productive. He revised his collection of poems A Child's Garden of Verses, wrote Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

In August 1887, the Stevensons sailed for America, still searching for the best place to live. In New York, Stevenson was greeted as a celebrity, with editors and publishers offering well- paid contracts. For some time he stayed in the Adirondack Mountains. He wrote essays for Scribner's and started The Master of Ballantrae, which is another investigation of moral doubts. In June 1888, the Stevensons set off from San Francisco in the schooner yacht Casco on an excursion for health and enjoyment.

After a voyage to Sydney, Australia, in October 1890, the Stevensons went to the island of Samoa and settled at the town of Vailima. There he led a productive and active life, since the climate was just right for him. He wrote Catriona (1893), a sequel to Kidnapped; The Ebb-Tide (1894), a grim and powerful tale, and The Beach of Fales6 (1892). Stevenson was buried by the local inhabitants on Mount Vaea, as the most revered member of their community. The inscription on his tombstone reads:

Under the wide and starry sky,

Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:

Here he lies where he longed to be;

Home is the sailor, home from sea,

And the hunter home from the hill.