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The Boat Studio - Claude Monet 1876.jpg

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

 

Do you remember that poem? It is from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Swing, and it comes to mind from time to time. For reasons unknown, Mr. Monet's painting of himself painting while sailing down a river in a boat studio brought it to mind. Let's see how it translates.

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How do you like to go down a stream,

Down amid ripples and waves?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a memory to save!

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Not bad, but Mr. Stevenson said it far better than I. You can read Mr. Stevenson's complete poem here: The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson - Poems | Academy of American Poets

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Poetry Credit: "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1913.

Photo Credit: "The Boat Studio" by Claude Monet, 1876.

* Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller. Let There Be Peace on Earth, 1955.

​Copyright 2006 - 2025, Virginia Tolles. All rights reserved.

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