The child in the poem wants to be a hawker, a gardener and a watchman at different times.

The child wants to be a hawker because he likes that the hawker he wants to spend ‘his day on the road’ and is not in any hurry.

He wants to be a gardener because he thinks that the gardener does what he wills and nobody stops him even while sweats during the day. This is evident from these lines: ‘does what he like with his spade’ ‘Nobody takes him to task’ even when ‘he gets baked in the sun or gets wet’.

The child wants to be a watchman because he ‘never once goes to bed in his life’. The child also wishes to walk the street all night, like watchman chasing the shadows with his lantern.