Walter Crane

Going shares with the Snakes, Porcupine
Said--"the best of the bargain is mine:"
Nor would he back down,
When the snake would disown
The agreement his quills made them sign.

Hasty Partnerships May Be Repented Of

"Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?"
"I've been to London to look at the Queen."
"Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?"
"I caught a little mouse under the chair."

Pussy-cat high, Pussy-cat low,
Pussy-cat was a fine teazer of tow.

Pussy-cat she came into the barn,
With her bag-pipes under her arm.

And then she told a tale to me,
How Mousey had married a humble bee.

Then was I ever so glad,
That Mousey had married so clever a lad.

When Summer on the earth was queen
She held her court in gardens green
Fair hung with tapestry of leaves,
Where threads of gold the sun enweaves
With checquered patterns on the floor
Of velvet lawns the scythe smoothes o'er:
Their waving fans the soft winds spread
Each way to cool Queen Summer's head:
The woodland dove made music soft,
And Eros touched his lute full oft.


Round Time's dial thronged the hours,
Masking in the Masque of Flowers


Like knights and ladies fair be-dight
In silk attire, both red and white.


And as the winds about them played,
And shook the flowers or disarrayed,


A whispered word among them goes
Of how the Lily flouts the Rose,


Suitors for Summer's favor dear,
To w...

Es regnet auf der Brücke, und ich werd' nass.
Ich hab' noch was vergessen, und weiss nicht was?

Schöne Jungfer hübsch und fein
Komm mit mir zum Tanz herein,
Lass uns einmal tanzen und lustig sein.

Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf,
Draussen steht ein Schaf,
Stösst sich an ein em Steinelein,
That ihm weh das Beinelein,
Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf,
Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf.

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,

Four and twenty black-birds,
Baked in a pie

When the pie was open'd
The birds began to sing

Was'nt that a dainty dish
To set before the King?

The King was in his counting-house,
Counting out his money.

The Queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;

There came a little blackbird,
And nipp'd off her nose.

Upon Paul's steeple stands a tree
As full of apples as may be,
The little boys of London town
They run with hooks to pull them down;
And then they run from hedge to hedge
Until they come to London Bridge.

Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse;
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.
Les beaux messieurs font comm' ça,
Et puis encor' comm' ça:
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.

Les belles dames font comm' ça,
Et puis encore comm' ça:
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.

Et les capucins font comm' ça,
Et puis encore comm' ça:
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse, danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
Tout le monde y danse en rond.

A for the APPLE
or Alphabet pie,
Which all get a slice of.
Come taste it & try.

B is the BABY
who gave Mr Bunting
Full many a long day's
rabbit skin hunting.

C for the CAT
that played on the fiddle,
When cows jumped higher than
'Heigh Diddle Diddle!'

D for the DAME
with her pig at the stile,
'Tis said they got over,
but not yet a while.


E for the Englishman,
ready to make fast
The giant who wanted to
have him for breakfast.

F for the Frog in the story
you know,
Begun with a wooing but
ending in woe.

G for Goosey Gander
who wandered upstairs,
And met the old man
who objected to prayers.


H for poor Humpty who
after his fall,
Felt oblige...

"How Master that little Dog pets!"
Thinks the Ass; & with jealousy frets,
So he climbs Master's knees,
Hoping dog-like to please,
And a drubbing is all that he gets.

Asses Must Not Expect To Be Fondled

"What pranks I shall play!" thought the Ass,
"In this skin for a Lion to pass;"
But he left one ear out,
And a hiding, no doubt,
"Lion" had--on the skin of an Ass!

Imposters Generally Forget Something

"Get up! let us flee from the Foe,"
Said the Man: but the Ass said, "Why so?"
"Will they double my load,
Or my blows? Then, by goad,
And by stirrup, I've no cause to go."

Your Reasons Are Not Mine

Crafty Lion,--perhaps with the gout,
Kept his cave; where, to solve any doubt,
Many visitors go:
But the Ass, he said "No!
They go in, but I've seen none come out."

Reason From Results

"Their honey I'll have when I please;
Who cares for such small things as Bees?"
Said the Bear; but the stings
Of these very small things
Left him not very much at his ease.

The Weakest United May Be Strong To Avenge

A poor half-blind Doe her one eye
Kept shoreward, all danger to spy,
As she fed by the sea,
Poor innocent! she
Was shot from a boat passing by.

Watch On All Sides

In the house, in the market, the streets,
Everywhere he was boasting his feats;
Till one said, with a sneer,
"Let us see it done here!
What's so oft done with ease, one repeats."

Deeds Not Words

To his sons, who fell out, father spake:
"This Bundle of Sticks you can't break;
Take them singly, with ease,
You may break as you please,
So, dissension your strength will unmake."

Strength Is In Unity