The Lamplighter (poem)

The Lamplighter is a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson contained in his 1885 collection A Child's Garden of Verses.

The speaker in the poem makes his desire for adventure clear and seeks an escape from the normality of his life.

The child sees the presence of lights at nighttime to be special and wishes to follow the Lamplighter into the same profession.

The poem explores choice and goes on to state that a person gains the ability to choose as they grow older and stronger which furthers the theme of maturation.

In the same essay, he describes the lamplighter as one punching holes in the night and as one worthy of being immortalized in a Greek myth, but one whose task has been overtaken by automatic electric ignition of the gas lights.

For we are very lucky, with a lamp before the door,
And Leerie stops to light it as he lights so many more;