Page 20 - eMuse Vol.9 No.08
P. 20
A foolish man he seemed to me:
But, “Nay, I am yourself,” said he.
“Just as you were when you rode out.”
So I rode homeward full of doubt.
C J Dennis “A Book for Kids” 1921
Woolloomooloo
Heres a rediculous riddle for yo;
How many o’s in Woolloomoo oo?
Two for the W, two for the M,
Four for the L’s , and that’s plenty for them.
C J Dennis “A Book for Kids” 1921
A Change Of Air
Now, a man in Oodnadatta
He grew fat, and he grew fatter;
Though he hardly had a thing to eat for dinner;
While a man in Booboorowi
Often sat and wodered how he
Could prevent himself from growing thinner.
So the man from Oodnatta
He came down to Booboorowie,
Some More Variations Where he rapidly grew flatter;
And the folks will tell you how he
Urged the man from Booboorowie
On Nursery Rhymes To go up to Oodnadatta —
Where he lived a while, and now he
is considerably fatter.
C J Dennis “A Book for Kids” 1921
From “Twinkle Twinkle Southern Cross” Riding Song
compiled by Robert Holden. Above illustration from the cover. Flippity -flop! Flippity-flop!
Here comes the butcher to bring us a chop,
The Traveller Cantering, cantering down the wide street
As I rode in to Burrmbeet, On his grey mare with the funny white feet;
I met a man with funny feet; Cantering, cantering out to the farm,
And, when I paused to ask him why Stripes on his apron and basket on Arm.
His feet were strange, he rolled his eye Run to the window and tell him to stop —
And said the rain would spoil the weat; Flippity -flop! Flippity-flop!
So I rode on to Burrumbeet. C J Dennis “A Book for Kids” 1921
As I rode in to Beetaloo, Growing up
I met a man whose nose was blue;
And, when I asked him how he got Little Tommy Tadpole began to weep an wail,
A nose like that, he answered “What For little Tommy Tadpole had lost his little tail,
Do bullocks mean when they say “Moo?” And his mother didn’t know him, as he wept upon a log,
So I rode onto Beetaloo. For he wasn’t Tommy Tadpole, but Mr. Thomas Frog.
As I rode in to Ballarat, C J Dennis “A Book for Kids” 1921
I met a man who wore no hat;
And, when I said he might take cold, The Funny Hatter
He cried, “The hills are quite as old Harry was a funny man, Harry was a hatter;
As yonder plains, but not so flat.” He ate his lunch at breakfast time and said it didn’t matter.
So I rode on to Ballarat. He made a pot of melon jam and put it on a shelf,
For he was fond of sugar things and living by himself.
As I rode in to Gundagai, He built a fire of bracken and a blue-gum log,
I met a man and passed him by And he sat all night beside it with his big-black-dog.
Without a nod, without a word.
He turned, and said he never heard C J Dennis “A Book for Kids” 1921
Or seen a man so wise as I. Editor’s Footnote:
But I rode on to Gundagai.
These simple little poems are a great start point for getting kids
As I rode homeward full of doubt, inerested in poetry. Why not teach them to be said out loud?
I met a stranger riding out:
20 eMuse August 2020
