The Land of Counterpane

Robert Louis Stevenson published “The Land of Counterpane” in 1885 as part of his collection A Child’s Garden of Verses. The collection was dedicated to one of his nurses he had while growing up, Alison Cunningham, whom Stevenson affectionately called “Cummy” and who read to the young Stevenson from various texts. Stevenson wrote during the Victorian Period, when advancements in science and technology were continuously changing and improving and when imperialism and colonialism still were prominent in parts of the word. “The Land of Counterpane” can be considered a lyric poem, as it gives the author’s personal feelings and thoughts. It can also be categorized as a narrative poem, as it tells the story of the speaker’s imagination creating their own world right before their eyes. Stevenson’s biography provides a framework through which to read “The Land of Counterpane”; just as the speaker is ill in the poem and has to entertain themself while they rest in bed, Stevenson was a sickly child and his illness followed him into adulthood. He did a good portion of his writings during convalescence. His descriptions of illness and coping with sickness came from firsthand experience. The text speaks to the power of the imagination and the creative individual to surpass the physical limits of the body and maintain a sense of identity, advocating for positive responses to seemingly negative situations.