Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home
And bring their tails behind them.
Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamed she heard them bleating,
But when she awoke, 'twas all a joke--
Alas! they still were fleeting.
Then up she took her little crook,
Determined for to find them;
She found them, indeed, bit it made her heart bleed,
They'd left their tails behind them.
It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray
Over the meadows hard by,
That there she espied their tails side by side,
All hung on a tree to dry.
She heaved a sigh, and gave by-and-by
Each careless sheep a banging;
And as for the rest, she thought it was best
Just to leave their tails a-hanging.