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ACADEMIC PAPER IN CRITICAL THEORIES

TITLE: Critical Analysis of Robert Louis Stevenson’s

“The Vagabond”

An Academic Essay
Presented to
Dr. Carmel Vip C. Derasin
Faculty-ESOL

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement in English Major I (Critical Theories)
By: Baby Jane Uytico
Objective/ Formalistic Theory:

The poem is entitled “The Vagabond” by Robert Louis Stevenson. It has 4 stanzas in

which the 2nd stanza is exactly the same with the 4th one. All the four stanzas of the poem

repeatedly express the untiring joys and excitement of a free life outside without any duty and

responsibility. The person talking in the poem loves unlimited travel around the world. He

believes that his real life begins with nature and adventure. He also believes that something is

waiting for him outside, something surprising and exciting, and something that will burst a

heavy, cold air to his face. He will sleep in the grass and bushes with the stars twinkling above

him. He will eat bread and drink from the river. This is the kind of life he dreamed of from the

very first time. The lines, “Wealth I seek not, hope nor love, nor a friend to know me; All I seek,

the heaven above and the road below me.” express that he does not need a friend, a lover, or any

companion. He wants to travel from place to place alone. All he needs is the guidance from the

Lord and the way for his adventure. The 3 rd stanza, “Or let autumn fall on me, Where afield I

linger, Silencing the bird on tree, Biting the blue finger. White as meal the frosty field, Warm the

fireside haven - Not to autumn will I yield, not to winter even!” means that he does not mind the

kind of weather, material possessions or anything around him. He would like to spend his life in

the outdoors even in the autumn and winter seasons with the sky and heavens as his roof. And

finally, the first two lines of the last stanza “Let the blow fall soon or late, let what will be o'er

me;” states that he wants a carefree life without troubling about death at all.
Expressive Theory:
 Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer.

He was born at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, Scotland on November 13, 1850, to Thomas

Stevenson (1818-1887), a leading lighthouse engineer, and his wife, the former Margaret Isabella

Balfour (1829-1897). He was a Presbyterian. Stevenson was a sickly child and suffered from

tuberculosis from an early age. His parents decided to give him a personal nurse. That was when

he knew Alison “Cummy” Cunninghum. He began attending Edinburgh University and started

off by studying engineering and then law. Fortunately, he passed the bar in 1875. In May 1880,

Stevenson married Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne (1840-1914), a 36-year old American woman.

He believed that his marriage was his best move in life. He was a literary celebrity during his

lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 30 most translated authors in the world, just below

Charles Dickens.Many of his most memorable works are travel writings: "An Inland Voyage"

(1878), "Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes" (1879), "The Silverado Squatters" (1880), and

"In the South Seas." Stevenson traveled around the world, writing about his adventures along the

way. He became famous for "Treasure Island" (1882). He also wrote "Kidnapped” (1886), "The

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886), "The Black Arrow" (1888), "Master of

Ballantrae" (1889), "The Wrong Box" (1889), and "Weir of Hermiston" (1896), which was

unfinished at his death. In 1875 appeared, anonymously, his Appeal to the Clergy of the Church

of Scotland, and in that year he made the first of many visits to the forest of Fontainebleau. He

travelled, from lack of means, as a steerage passenger and then as an emigrant, and in December,

after hardships which seriously affected his health, he arrived in San Francisco. In this year was

published Virginibus Puerisque, the earliest collection of Stevenson's essays. He spent the

summer months in Scotland, writing articles, poems, and above all his first romance, The Sea-
Cook, afterwards known as Treasure Island; but he was driven back to Davos in October. In

1882 appeared Familiar Studies of Men and Books and New Arabian Nights. His two winters at

Davos had done him some good, but his summers in Scotland invariably undid the benefit. He

therefore determined to reside wholly in the south of Europe, and in the autumn of 1882 he

settled near Marseilles. This did not suit him, but from March 1883 to July 1884 he was at home

at a charming house called La Solitude, above Hyères; this was in many ways to be the happiest

station in the painful and hurrying pilgrimage of Stevenson's life. As what we can observe on his

writings, Stevenson truly loved traveling. He put everything he saw, experienced and desires in

his poems. “The Vagabond” was just one of his great poems related to traveling and exploring

the world. Stevenson was one of the greatest writers of the Victorian era. He writes with energy,

enthusiasm and excitement to his creations that made them fun to read. His characters are

unforgettable, placed into a dramatic setting for the desired sensational effect. The charm of the

personal character of Stevenson and the romantic vicissitudes of his life are so predominant in

the minds of all who knew him, or lived within earshot of his legend, that they made the ultimate

position which he will take in the history of English literature somewhat difficult to decide. That

he was the most attractive figure of a man of letters in his generation is admitted; and the

acknowledged fascination of his character was deepened, and was extended over an extremely

wide circle of readers, by the publication in 1899 of his “Letters”, which have subdued even

those who were rebellious to the entertainment of his books. It is therefore from the point of view

of its "charm" that the genius of Stevenson must be approached, and in this respect there was

between himself and his books, his manners and his style, his practice and his theory, a very

unusual harmony. Very few authors of so high a class have been so consistent, or have made

their conduct so close a reflection of their philosophy. This unity of the man in his work makes it
difficult to be sure that one rightly gauges the purely literary significance of the latter.  But many

hold that his letters and essays are finer contributions to pure literature, and that on these

exquisite mixtures of wisdom, pathos, melody and humor his fame is likely to be ultimately

based. In verse he had a touch far less sure than in prose. Here we find less evidence of sedulous

workmanship, yet not infrequently a piercing sweetness, a depth of emotion, a sincere and

spontaneous lovableness, which are irresistibly touching and inspiring. He died on December 3,

1894, near Apia, in the Samoan Islands. He was 44 at the time of his death from a brain

hemorrhage. Forty chiefs carried him to his burial site on the top of Mt. Vaea.
Mimetic Theory:

“The Vagabond” poem by Stevenson truly reflects real life. Even though everyone is

different from each other, we cannot deny the fact that there is something inside us that needs to

be considered despite our busy life. And that is, freedom. Our modern world today prohibits us

to be free. There are always works and duties that need to be accomplished, reports that need to

be presented, and responsibilities that need to be fulfilled. Every single minute is very important

to us. We cannot even notice that we forgot the joys of living. But, there are still people who left

everything just to experience their dream of traveling. Some of these daring persons are the

following: Lewis and Clarke Expedition's exploration of the American West, which modern day

travelers can experience for themselves by spending five days paddling more than 60 miles of

the Missouri River, Che Guevara’s 34-day, 4850+ mile journey through South America, by

motorcycle no less, Ibn Battuta who wrote the book Rihla and provided one of the most complete

pictures of what 14th century life was actually like, Martin Behaim, a German mapmaker,

navigator and merchant, accompanied the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam (Cão) on a 1485-1486

voyage to the coast of West Africa and was part of the team that discovered the mouth of the

Congo River, William Dampier who sailed to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, Australia,

New Guinea, South East Asia and the South Seas, Gerhard Rohlfs who was able to penetrate the

Sahara by dressing as a Muslim and travelling under the name of Mustafa, Ilka Staschen who

spent time with the Laps in the Arctic region of Finland, with the Beduins in the deserts of the

Middle East and the Ladakhis in the Himalayas, and Marco Polo who is the most famous

Westerner traveled on the Silk Road and excelled all the other travelers in his determination, his

writing, and his influence. These are just few people with great desires and love of traveling.

Truly, like the persona in “The Vagabond”, their lives revolve around exploration of the world.
They do not need wealth or any other material possessions to be happy. They feel true happiness

with God guiding them as they discover the wonders of His creations and sharing their

unforgettable experience with the world. Stevenson himself was a travel writer, which was why

he can relate his poem to his own life. His poems rarely fail to capture the imagination, and,

having captured it, to take it to places it's rarely seen before. The romance of the open road plays

a significant role in Stevenson's writings, yet it's always tempered with a sense of the beauty of

stillness, of silence.
Affective Theory:

Work, assignments, reports, payments, deadlines- these are just few causes of our daily

headaches! Life is just full stress, problems and hassles. Sometimes when all these things happen

at the same time, it seems like we are going crazy and our head heats up to the extent that we

become mad at every person we meet on the way. People who want to achieve success work

very hard. They are the ones who always experience stress. But that is just normal, we sow seeds

today, we reap fruits tomorrow. One time, when I was in 4th year high school, I remembered

myself drowning from a sea of school work and obligations. I was the school’s SSG vice

president, STEP president, classroom president and at the same time an honor student. Our SSG

president told me to make a resolution, our teacher gave a difficult project and final exam was

fast approaching. I do not know what to do first. I was still preoccupied by my college plan. At

that time, I thought of abandoning these things and for awhile; walk on the beach with bare feet.

I imagined myself unmindful of what will happen next. I just want to get out from these

pressures that slowly incarcerating me. I want to go on a vacation and explore some stupendous

places, just like the speaker in the poem “The Vagabond” who desired of traveling the world

freely.
 The Vagabond
By Robert Louis Stevenson

Give to me the life I love,

Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,

Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me

Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field -
Warm the fireside haven -
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,

Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.