: Could it be "Block City" by Robert Louis Stevenson, in A
: Child`s Garden of Verses? It sounded like one of those poems,
: and I was sure I remembered it, but only one of them begins
: with a child`s blocks, and I may have confused it with another
: poem that begins with a dream.

: "What are you able to build with your blocks?
: Castles and palaces, temples and docks.
: Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,
: But I can be happy and building at home...

: Is that the one?

What are you able to build with your blocks?
Castles and palaces, temples and docks.
Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,
But I can be happy and building at home.

Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea,
There I'll establish a city for me:
A kirk and a mill and a palace beside,
And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride.

Great is the palace with pillar and wall,
A sort of a tower on the top of it all,
And steps coming down in an orderly way
To where my toy vessels lie safe in the bay.

This one is sailing and that one is moored:
Hark to the song of the sailors aboard!
And see, on the steps of my palace, the kings
Coming and going with presents and things!

Yet as I saw it, I see it again,
The kirk and the palace, the ships and the men,
And as long as I live and where'er I may be,
I'll always remember my town by the sea.

I don't know. The steps sound familiar, and the kings and their presents as well. I haven't seen the 3rd grade textbook since 1968 or thereabouts. But this definitely has a similar feel to it. I found the collection of poems at the Web site listed below.

Thank you for bringing that up.
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Complete Collection of Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson