Wicked and Whimsicle Rhyme

Transcription

1 My Book Of Wicked and Whimsicle Rhyme For The Whole Family Compiled by Robin A Cartledge

2 List Of Contents For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon the inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. Piping Down The Valleys Wild - William Blake 'Daffodils' - William Wordsworth I Think There's A Rabbit - Robin A Cartledge The Owl and the Pussycat - Edward Lear An Elephant - Robin A Cartledge Twinkle, twinkle, little star - Jane Taylor Melissa Dreaming - Robin A Cartledge The Yak - Hilaire Belloc Bad, bad Bunny - Robin A Cartledge The Cow - R. L. Stevenson Pumpkin Head - Robin A Cartledge Fairy Song - Thomas Randolph Bunny In A Zoo - Robin A. Cartledge The Frog - Hilaire Belloc Why Salad? - Robin A Cartledge The Sea - unknown Trees - Joyce Kilmer The Python - Hilaire Belloc The porcupine - Hilaire Belloc The Rhinoceros - Hilaire Belloc How doth the little Busy Bee - Isaac Watts Red Bricks and Roses - Robin A Cartledge

3 Piping Down The Valleys Wild William Blake Piping down the valleys wild Piping songs of pleasant glee On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me, "Pipe a song about a lamb"; So I piped with merry cheer; "Piper pipe that song again" - So I piped, he wept to hear. "Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe Sing thy songs of merry cheer" So I sung the same again While he wept with joy to hear. "Piper sit thee down and write In a book that all may read" - So he vanished from my sight. And I plucked a hollow reed, And I made a rural pen, And I stained the water clear, And I wrote my happy songs Every child may joy to hear.

4 I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud 'Daffodils' William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils, Beside the lake, beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way They stretched in never-ending line along the margin of the bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be so gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed - and gazed - but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon the inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

5 I Think There's A Rabbit I think there's a rabbit with one sticky paw Who lives in the back of my underwear drawer. He's big and he's mean, at least that's what I guess, for why else is my room such a terrible mess? There's papers and rubbish and six different socks, There's three headless dollies all filled up with rocks, The homework my dog ate, a sandwich with hair, All stuck to a plate with a bit of a pear. My shirts flutter boldly from gold curtain hooks And the floor is all covered with pencils and books. It's such a great mess I can't open the door. I'm sure it's the rabbit who lives in the drawer. Robin A. Cartledge

6 The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear The owl and the pussy-cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped in a five pound note. The owl looked up at the stars above And sang to a small guitar "O lovely pussy! O pussy my love! What a beautiful pussy you are, You are, you are What a beautiful pussy you are!" Pussy said to the owl, "You elegant fowl! How charmingly sweet you sing! O let us be married! too long have we tarried: But what shall we do for a ring?" They sailed away for a year and a day, To the land where the Bong-Tree grows, And there in the wood a Piggy-Wig stood, With a ring at the end of his nose, His nose, his nose With a ring at the end of his nose. "Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for a shilling your ring?" Said the Piggy "I will." So they took it away, and were married next day By the Turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, The danced by the light of the moon, The moon, the moon, They danced by the light of the moon.

7 An Elephant Robin A Cartledge An elephant or pachyderm Is bigger than a household germ But smaller than a mountain range A fact I find extremely strange As it climbs the garden wall Is an earthworm long or tall? I find it really hard to figure What is big and which is bigger Words so very often used But still today I am confused My cat is bigger than a mouse Yet both fit easy in my house Now please don't make an awful fuss As none of this relates to us I'm here today to talk to you About the Municipal Zoo And when an elephant named Kyle Went missing for a little while Kyle, hoping that he not be seen Found some paint in pretty green And covered up from nose to knee Until he looked just like a pea Then hoping he would look much thinner Hid in Byron Pencil's dinner Though Byron knows it should be chewed He always gobbles down his food And when he finished off his plate He found, alas, It was too late. Now he has a belly ache.

8 Twinkle, twinkle, little star Jane Taylor (circa 1806) Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. When the blazing sun is gone, When he nothing shines upon, Then you show your little light Twinkle, twinkle, all the night. Then the traveller in the dark. Thanks you for your tiny spark; He could not see which way to go, If you did not twinkle so. In the dark blue sky you keep, And often through my curtains peep, For you never shut your eye Till the sun is in the sky. As your bright and shiny spark Lights the traveller in the dark, Though I know not what you are, Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

9 Melissa Dreaming Robin A Cartledge What will we do Now the sun is bright blue? And the earth is a thick slimy green? And the moon has grown wings Doing wondrous things As it sours through a pink evening scene. While small purple fairies With soft purple wings In a line simply roller skate by In all of the towns All the people are clowns With some even three metres high. They all ride their bikes, Some with one wheel, some trikes, And one even rode a meat pie As six purple fairies With bright orange boots One by one softly roller skate by. Some big scary monsters Were chased off by bees As the butterflies danced Around black velvet trees While the flute and the cello together at last Played some music that coloured the breeze. And six purple fairies With big purple smiles In a row just went skating on by. A warm gentle sunbeam all ready for play Woke me and welcomed me into the day And showed me that things Are not quite what they seem For I was just having a wonderful dream That amused me as I lay asleep. Then one purple feather From one fairy wing All alone softly drifted on by.

10 The Yak Hilaire Belloc As a friend to the children commend me the Yak You will find it exactly the thing: It will carry and fetch, you can ride on its back, Or lead it about with a string. The Tartar who dwells on the plains of Thibet (A desolate region of snow) Has for centuries made it a nursery pet, And surely the Tartar should know. Then tell your papa where the Yak can be got, And if he is awfully rich He will buy you the creature - or else he will not. (I cannot be positive which)

11 Bad, bad Bunny Robin A Cartledge I once had a terribly bad tempered bunny Who loved to scare kittens And thought it was funny To pull on their tails And to eat all their food Whenever he felt in a bad bunny mood. I think, yes I'm certain, I'm positive that The kitten, who now is a big fluffy cat, Caused my poor bunny to just disappear Leaving the end of a long rabbit ear And a foot set in silver upon a fine chain. I don't think I'll ever see bunny again.

12 The Cow by R. L. Stevenson The friendly cow, all red and white, I love with all my heart: She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple-tart. She wanders lowing here and there And yet she cannot stray, All in the pleasant open air, The pleasant light of day: And blown by all the winds that pass And wet with all the showers, She walks among the meadow grass And eats the meadow flowers.

13 Pumpkin Head Robin A Cartledge Grandpa Pencil who am I? I often wonder with a sigh. Am I me 'cause I read books Or just because of my good looks? What if someone stole my head And put a pumpkin there instead Then took the stolen head outside So it could have a pony ride? As my head rode by the creek Would the wind still kiss my cheek And would I smell the new mown hay The same as I did yesterday? Would I hear the gentle breeze Rustle through the autumn trees And would I see the tall brown reeds Or just a bunch of pumpkin seeds? Would a tear drop if I cried When I heard my fish had died Or would I simply ooze a scoop Of yukky, yellow pumpkin soup? Would they think me such a fool When I took my head to school And put it on my story book? Would the others laugh and look? You know I do my very best But what if teacher gave a test And I forgot and left my head Back underneath my mother's bed? But Grandpa here's my hardest task I really am afraid to ask Would you, and now my face is red, Still love me with a pumpkin head?

14 Fairy Song Thomas Randolph We, the Fairies, blith and antic, Of dimensions not gigantic, Though the moonshine mostly keep us, Oft in orchards frisk and peep us. Stolen sweets are always sweeter, Stolen kisses much completer, Stolen looks are nice in chapels, Stolen, stolen be your apples. When to bed the world is bobbing, Then's the time for orchard robbing; Yet the fruit were scarce worth peeling Were it not for stealing, stealing.

15 Bunny In A Zoo Robin A. Cartledge A rabbit friend that once I knew Was sent to live at City Zoo Where stamped on his official page is 'ALWAYS KEEP HIM IN A CAGE.' He wasn't such a horrid meanie He just ate some Fettucine From his mother's purple dish Oh yes! Then he ate two fish, And three large cows complete with head, Four big plates of fairy bread, Five jam tarts with runny custard, Six whole jars of English mustard, Seven eggs cooked easy over, Eight large serves of peach pavlova, Nine fruit drinks to quench his thirst, They caught him just before he burst. Thus, on his official page is 'ALWAYS KEEP HIM IN A CAGE'

16 The Frog Hilaire Belloc Be kind and tender to the frog, And do not call him names, As 'Slimy Skin", or 'Pollywog', Or likewise 'Ugly James' Or 'Gap a Grin', or 'Toad gone wrong' Or 'Billy bandy-knees' The frog is justly sensitive To epithets like these. No animal will more repay A treatment kind and fair; At least so lonely people say Who keep a frog (and, by the way, They are extremely rare)

17 Why Salad? Robin A Cartledge Rabbits eat bacon And rabbits eat ham And rabbits eat cakes Full of whipped cream and jam. They love chocolate milkshakes And soft country ballads, So why do we bother to Grow yukky salads?

18 The Sea (anon) Behold the wonders of the deep, Where crabs and lobsters learn to creep, And little fishes learn to swim, And clumsy sailors tumble in.

19 Trees Joyce Kilmer I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed Against the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day And lifts its leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

20 The Python Hilaire Belloc A Python I would not advise, It needs a doctor for its eyes And has the measles yearly. However, if you feel inclined To get one (to improve your mind, And not from fashion merely), Allow no music near its cage; And when it flies into a rage Chastise it, most severly. I had an aunt in Yucatan Who bought a Python from a man And kept it for a pet. She died, because she never knew These simple little rules and few; The Snake is living yet.

21 The Porcupine Hilaire Belloc What! Would you slap a Porcupine? Unhappy child, desist! Alas that any friend of mine, Should turn Tupto-Philist. To strike the meanest and the least Of creatures is a sin, How much more bad to beat a beast With prickles on its skin. The Rhinoceros Hilaire Belloc Rhinoceros, your hide looks all undone, You do not take my fancy in the least; You have a horn where other brutes have none; Rhinoceros, you are an ugly beast.

22 How doth the little Busy Bee Isaac Watts ( ) How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From ev'ry open flow'r? How skillfully she builds her cell. How neat she spreads her wax; And labours hard to store it well With the sweet food she makes. In works of labour or of skill, I would be busy too; For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do. In books, or works, or healthy play Let my first years be passed, That I may give for ev'ry day Some good account at last.

23 Red Bricks and Roses Robin A Cartledge He lives in a place made of Red bricks and roses, They built by the side Of a clear, stony brook. Each morning he sits And he thinks and he dozes, And reads the worn pages Of his favourite book. Sipping the nectar Of Burgundy vineyards, Dreaming of journeys That he never took. The End