See yonder painted Butterfly,
How gaudily it soars on high,
And seems to wish to reach the sky.
Late it was an insect mean,
Crawling o'er the shaven green,
Or on the cabbage leaves was seen.
And thus, my child, is man on earth,
A thing of mean and mortal birth;
His life a span; his power a breath.
But his immortal better part
Into a higher world will start,
When death his soul and body part.
And then he will glorious rise
With body fitted to the skies,
An Angel's form, not Butterfly's!
[Illustration]
There was an old wo-man tos-sed up in a bas-ket,
Nine-ty times as high as the moon;
And where she was go-ing, I could-n't but ask her,
For in her hand she car-ried a broom.
"Old wo-man, old wo-man, old wo-man," quoth I,
"Whi-ther, O whi-ther, O whi-ther so high?"
"To sweep the cob-webs off the sky!"
"Shall I go with you?" "Aye, by-and-by."
To make your candles last for a',
You wives and maids give ear-o!
To put them out 's the only way,
Says honest John Boldero.
[Illustration]
A milking, a milking, my maid,
"Cow, take care of your heels," she said;
"And you shall have some nice new hay,
If you'll quietly let me milk away."
[Illustration]
Old father Grey Beard,
Without tooth or tongue;
If you'll give me your finger,
I'll give you my thumb.
[Illustration]
There was an old woman, as I've heard tell,
She went to market her eggs for to sell;
She went to market all on a market day,
And she fell asleep on the king's highway.
There came by a pedlar, whose name was Stout,
He cut her petticoats all round about;
He cut her petticoats up to the knees,
Which made the old woman to shiver and freeze.
When the little old woman first did wake,
She began to shiver and she began to shake;
She began to wonder, and she began to cry,
"Lauk a mercy on me, this can't be I!"
But if it be I, as I hope it be,
I've a little dog at home, and he'll know me;
If it be I, he'll wag his little tail,
And if it be not I, he'll loudly bark and wail.
Home went the little woman all in the dark,
Up got the little dog, and he began to bark;
He began to bark, so she began to cry,
"Lauk a mercy on me, this is none of I."
Bye, baby bunting,
Father's gone a hunting,
Mother's gone a milking,
Sister's gone a silking,
Brother's gone to buy a skin
To wrap the baby bunting in.
[Illustration]
Away Birds, away!
Take a little, and leave a little,
And do not come again;
For if you do,
I will shoot you through,
And then there will be an end of you.
[Illustration]
Ba-a, ba-a, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full:
One for my mas-ter,
One for my dame,
And one for the lit-tle boy
That lives in our lane.
[Illustration]
One mis-ty morn-ing,
When clou-dy was the wea-ther,
I met a lit-tle old man,
Cloth-ed all in lea-ther,
Cloth-ed all in lea-ther,
With a strap be-low his chin.
How do you do? and how do you do?
And how do you do a-gain?
Dee-dle, dee-dle, dump-ling, my son John,
He went to bed with his stock-ings on;
One shoe off, and one shoe on.
Dee-dle, dee-dle, dump-ling, my son John.
[Illustration]
Swan, swan, over the sea;
Swim, swan, swim.
Swan, swan, back again;
Well, swan, swam.
[Illustration]
I had a lit-tle Hus-band, no big-ger than my thumb;
I put him in a pint-pot, and there I bid him drum.
I bought a lit-tle horse that gal-lop-ed up and down;
I sad-dled him and bri-dled him, and sent him out of town.
I gave him some gar-ters, to gar-ter up his hose,
And a lit-tle pock-et hand-ker-chief to wipe his pretty nose.
Ma-ry, Ma-ry, quite con-tra-ry,
How does your gar-den grow?
Sil-ver bells and coc-kle shells,
And pret-ty maids all in a row.
Hey, my kit-ten, my kit-ten,
Hey, my kit-ten, my deary;
Such a sweet pet as this
Was nei-ther far nor neary.
Here we go up, up, up,
Here we go down, down, downy;
Here we go back-wards and for-wards,
And here we go round, round, roundy.
[Illustration]
Some lit-tle mice sat in a barn to spin.
Pus-sy came by, and she pop-ped her head in;
"Shall I come in and cut your threads off?"
"Oh no, kind sir, you will snap our heads off."
[Illustration]
Ding, dong, bell, Pus-sy's in the well.
Who put her in? Lit-tle Tom-my Green.
Who pull-ed her out? Lit-tle Tom-my Trout.
What a naugh-ty boy was that,
To drown poor Pus-sy Cat.
[Illustration]
As I was going along, long, long,
A singing a comical song, song, song,
The lane that I went was so long, long, long,
And the song that I sung was so long, long, long,
And so I went singing along.
[Illustration]
Dance a baby diddit,
What can a mother do with it,
But sit in a lap,
And give him some pap,
Dance a baby diddit.
[Illustration]
Hush, baby, my doll, I pray you, don't cry,
And I'll give you some bread, and some milk by-and-bye;
Or perhaps you like custard, or, maybe, a tart,
Then to either you are welcome, with all my heart.
[Illustration]
Jack Spratt's pig,
He was not very little,
Nor yet very big;
He was not very lean,
He was not very fat,
He'll do well for a grunt,
Says little Jack Sprat.
[Illustration]
The man in the moon,
Came tumbling down,
And asked the way to Norwich.
He went by the south,
And burnt his mouth,
With eating cold pease porridge.
There was an old wo-man, and what do you think?
She liv-ed up-on no-thing but vic-tuals and drink;
Vic-tuals and drink were the chief of her diet,
Yet the pla-guey old wo-man could ne-ver be qui-et.
She went to the ba-ker's to buy some bread;
And when she came home, her hus-band was dead.
She went to the clerk, to toll the great bell;
And when she came back, her hus-band was well.
[Illustration]
A Frog he would a-wooing go,
Sing, heigho, says Rowley;
Whether his mother would let him or no:
With a rowley, powley, gammon and spinach;
Heigho, says Anthony Rowley.
So off he marched with his opera-hat,
Heigho, says Rowley;
And on the way he met with a rat,
With a rowley, powley, &c.
And when they came to mouse's hall,
Heigho, says Rowley;
They gave a loud knock, and they gave a loud call,
With a rowley, powley, &c.
"Pray, Mrs. Mouse, are you within?"
Heigho, says Rowley;
"Yes, kind sir, I am sitting to spin,"
With a rowley, powley, &c.
"Pray, Mrs. Mouse, will you give us some beer?"
Heigho, says Rowley;
"For Froggy and I are fond of good cheer,"
With a rowley, powley, &c.
Now while they all were a merry making,
Heigho, says Rowley;
The cat and her kittens came tumbling in,
With a rowley, powley, &c.
The cat she seized the rat by the crown,
Heigho, says Rowley;
The kittens they pulled the little mouse down,
With a rowley, powley, &c.
This put poor frog in a terrible fright,
Heigho, says Rowley;
So he took up his hat, and he wished them good night,
With a rowley, powley, &c.
But as Froggy was crossing over a brook,
Heigho, says Rowley;
A lily-white duck came and gobbled him up,
With a rowley, powley, &c.
So there was an end of one, two, and three,
Heigho, says Rowley;
The rat, the mouse, and the little Frog-ee!
With a rowley, powley, gammon and spinach;
Heigho, says Anthony Rowley.
Here am I, little jumping Joan,
When nobody's with me, I'm always alone.
[Illustration]
Jack and Gill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of wa-ter;
Jack fell down, and broke his crown,
And Gill came tum-bling af-ter.
Up Jack got and home did trot,
As fast as he could ca-per;
Dame Gill had the Job to plais-ter his knob,
With vin-e-gar and brown paper.
Pus-sy cat, pus-sy cat, where have you been?
I've been to Lon-don to look at the Queen.
Pus-sy cat, pus-sy cat, what did you do there?
I fright-en-ed a lit-tle mouse un-der the chair.
[Illustration]