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Prayers Written at Vailima
This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
6,949 books7,020 followersRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 26, 2018
Stevenson was a nonconformist, but by the time he was living in Samoa, at the end of his life, it seems he had reverted to the traditional religion of his upbringing. The family hosted devotional services and included their native servants in the evening ritual. The volume I read (Zodiac Books, 1948) contains 14 short prayers written for different occasions, and a brief Christmas sermon. The main theme of the sermon is that morality and happiness don’t go together, and one can only pursue a moral life for oneself, and happiness for others – and hope that personal happiness might ensue.
March 29, 2022
This is a beautifully illustrated book of Robert Louis Stevenson's prayers that anyone of whatever worldview can enjoy. I have great respect for the Scottish writer.
August 3, 2018
This book mystifies me. It doesn't show up once in any Robert Louis Stevenson bibliography I can find online, yet it is up for sale - as an antique or a modern reprint - with the same mundanity as your Treasure Islands and Strange Cases. Sometimes it's called "Prayers", sometimes "Prayers Written at Vailima". Even the publishing date is up for grabs, though the consensus appears to be, posthumously, 1904.
The book contains family prayers Stevenson coined while living his final sickly years in the town of Vailima, Samoa. The prologue by Mrs. Stevenson depicts a convivial, easygoing existence for the Stevensons amidst the Samoan natives, who dubbed the man Tusitala ("Teller of Tales") and would circle him night and day for wisdom in the form of prayer.
No religion is stated, which I think makes the prayers all the more efficient. "Amen" crops up here and there but that doesn't narrow it down as much as you'd think. Prayers are prescribed according to days, times of the day, seasonal shenanigans, overall intentions. They're fueled by a sense of peace and balance - especially in their observation of nature - that reminds me a little of Buddhism, such as the notion that "forgetfulness of self" is "the only way to heaven".
I like to think Samoa was Stevenson's heaven on earth.
My favorites are the ending trio "For Self-Blame", "For Self-Forgetfulness" and, here transcribed, "For Renewal of Joy":
WE are evil, O God, and help us to see it and amend. We are good,
and help us to be better. Look down upon thy servants with a
patient eye, even as Thou sendest sun and rain; look down, call
upon the dry bones, quicken, enliven; recreate in us the soul of
service, the spirit of peace; renew in us the sense of joy.
The book contains family prayers Stevenson coined while living his final sickly years in the town of Vailima, Samoa. The prologue by Mrs. Stevenson depicts a convivial, easygoing existence for the Stevensons amidst the Samoan natives, who dubbed the man Tusitala ("Teller of Tales") and would circle him night and day for wisdom in the form of prayer.
No religion is stated, which I think makes the prayers all the more efficient. "Amen" crops up here and there but that doesn't narrow it down as much as you'd think. Prayers are prescribed according to days, times of the day, seasonal shenanigans, overall intentions. They're fueled by a sense of peace and balance - especially in their observation of nature - that reminds me a little of Buddhism, such as the notion that "forgetfulness of self" is "the only way to heaven".
I like to think Samoa was Stevenson's heaven on earth.
My favorites are the ending trio "For Self-Blame", "For Self-Forgetfulness" and, here transcribed, "For Renewal of Joy":
WE are evil, O God, and help us to see it and amend. We are good,
and help us to be better. Look down upon thy servants with a
patient eye, even as Thou sendest sun and rain; look down, call
upon the dry bones, quicken, enliven; recreate in us the soul of
service, the spirit of peace; renew in us the sense of joy.
December 22, 2022
We are evil, O God, and help us to see it and amend. We are good, and help us to be better.
Look down upon thy servants with a patient eye, even as Thou sendest sun and rain;
Look down, call upon the dry bones, quicken, enliven; recreate in us the soul of service, the spirit of peace; renew in us the sense of joy.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Amen.
Look down upon thy servants with a patient eye, even as Thou sendest sun and rain;
Look down, call upon the dry bones, quicken, enliven; recreate in us the soul of service, the spirit of peace; renew in us the sense of joy.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Amen.
August 13, 2020
Beautifully illuminated, full of richness and depth, and so very lovely in its presentation - both the prayers and packaging.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews