I used to play at Pirates,

And sailed the seven seas.

Then I was a cowboy,

These simple things did me please.

I had a vivid imagination,

Adventure was always on my mind.

I discovered the joys of reading,

And escaped the daily grind.

Once I lived with the Eskimos,

In the land of ice and snow,

Went hunting and a-fishing,

My fantasy was all aglow.

I read a book of Jules Verne,

And went off to the moon,

It was just to take a look,

Then it was time to return.

I spent time in the forests of Africa,

With Dr Livingstone as my guide,

Then off again to America,

With Huckleberry Finn I did hide.

In my world of fantasy and imagination,

I performed such wonderful deeds,,

A hero of all the Nations,

I was the one that did succeed.

Then I grew up my childish world at an end.

I had become serious; it nearly drove me around the bend.

I still do like the mysterious,

This is the message I am trying to send

George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856-2 November 1950) was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was a renowned playwright and theatre critic. In London, Shaw became a theatre critic for the Saturday Review and began writing plays of his own. Some of his most popular plays include Arms and the Man, Man and Superman, Major Barbara, Saint Joan and Pygmalion. In fact, Pygmalion was made into a film twice, and the screenplay that he wrote for the first version won an Oscar. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 60 plays,  and was also the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.

1. cowboy: a man who herds and tends cattle, usually on horseback
2. daily grind: everyday routine
3. fantasy: make-believe
4. drove around the bend: (here) made the poet really angry and irritated