My son, Christopher Alan, was supposed to be Christopher Robin. Unfortunately, his father objected strenuously no matter how often I told him "Robin" was a boy's name. Well it doesn't matter what the birth certificate says, Christopher Alan really thinks his name is Christopher Robin.
He got that name simply because when I was five and wanted a life somewhere near normal, books were my companions and there was a poem in my Childcraft set written by A.A. Milne. Years later there was a song by Kenny Loggins. The two items together have made me grateful to Milne for a lifetime. Today is the anniversary of Milne's January 18 birth. In honor of that I give you:
Vespers
A. A. Milne
Little boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on his little hands little gold head.
Hush hush, whisper. Who dares?
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers:
"God bless Mommy, I know that's right,
And wasn't it fun in the bath tonight,
The cold's so cold and the hot's so hot.
God bless Daddy, I quite forgot.
If I open my eyes just a little bit more
I can see Nanny's dressing-gown on the door;
It's a beautiful blue but it hasn't got a hood,
God bless Nanny and make her good.
Mine has a hood and I lie in bed
And I pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes and I curl up small
And nobody knows that I'm there at all.
Thank you God, for a lovely day,
And what was the other I wanted to say?
I said, `Bless Daddy', so what could it be?
Now I remember: God bless me".
Little boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on his little hands on little gold head.
Hush hush, whisper. Who dares?
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers
