The Land of Nod

From breakfast on through all the day At home among my friends I stay; But every night I go abroad Afar into the land of Nod.

All by myself I have to go, With none to tell me what to do— All alone beside the streams And up the mountain-sides of dreams.

The strangest things are there for me, Both things to eat and things to see, And many frightening sights abroad Till morning in the land of Nod.

Try as I like to find the way, I never can get back by day, Nor can remember plain and clear The curious music that I hear.

From The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885). Public domain.

Check your understanding

1. According to the poem, what is the 'land of Nod'?

A park near the speaker's houseThe place the speaker goes when dreamingA real mountain the speaker climbsA friend's house the speaker visits at night

2. How does the speaker describe the experience of being in the land of Nod? Use examples from the poem to show if it is a fun place, a scary place, or a mix of both.

3. Why do you think the poet repeats the idea of being alone ('All by myself', 'All alone') in the second stanza?

4. At the end of the poem, the speaker says they cannot remember the 'curious music' plain and clear. What does this tell us about the nature of dreams?