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Thursday, August 09, 2007

Poetry Friday - Topsy-Turvy World

William and I have been reading silly poetry this week, so my offering today is this fun piece by William Brighty Rands.
Topsy-Turvy World
in A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895

IF the butterfly courted the bee,
   And the owl the porcupine;
If churches were built in the sea,
   And three times one was nine;
If the pony rode his master,
   If the buttercups ate the cows,
If the cats had the dire disaster
   To be worried, sir, by the mouse;
If mamma, sir, sold the baby
   To a gypsy for half a crown;
If a gentleman, sir, was a lady,—
   The world would be Upside-down!
If any or all of these wonders
   Should ever come about,
I should not consider them blunders,
   For I should be Inside-out!

Chorus

Ba-ba, black wool,
   Have you any sheep?
Yes, sir, a packfull,
   Creep, mouse, creep!
Four-and-twenty little maids
   Hanging out the pie,
Out jump’d the honey-pot,
   Guy Fawkes, Guy!
Cross latch, cross latch,
   Sit and spin the fire;
When the pie was open’d,
   The bird was on the brier!

The round up this week is at Big A little a. Stop by and check out all the great posts this week. Happy Poetry Friday, all!

2 comments:

  1. Oh, that chorus is fun!

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  2. What a lot of fun unpacking all the twisted references in this poem. And fun to sing!

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