Poem by Lewis Carroll

King-Fisher Song

King Fisher courted Lady Bird –
Sing Beans, sing Bones, sing Butterflies! 
            ‘Find me my match,’ he said, 
            ‘With such a noble head –
With such a beard, as white as curd –
            With such expressive eyes!’

‘Yet pins have heads,’ said Lady Bird –
Sing Prunes, sing Prawns, sing Primrose-Hill!
            ‘And, where you stick them in, 
            They stay, and thus a pin
Is very much to be preferred
            To one that’s never still!’

‘Oysters have beards,’ said Lady Bird –
Sing Flies, sing Frogs, sing Fiddle-strings!
            ‘I love them, for I know
            They never chatter so:
They would not say one single word – 
            Not if you crowned them Kings!’

‘Needles have Eyes,’ said Lady Bird –
Sing Cats, sing Corks, sing Cowslip-tea! 
            ‘And they are sharp – just what 
            Your Majesty is not:
So get you gone – ’tis too absurd
            To come a-courting me!’

1. The Elections to the Hebdomadal Council
2. The Wandering Burgess
3. What Tottles Meant
4. Theme with Variations
5. Photography Extraordinary

Print

1816 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version