He cut one finger And the other finger bled. He cut off his head; But he didn't have another, So he's dead. He shut one eye And the other eye was gone. He put his glasses on; But he couldn't see to see, So he's done. The dwarf ate a giant To become a giant too. He grew and he grew, But he couldn't hold him all, So he's through. The cot became a bed And the bed became a boat. But the boat couldn't float Being heavy; and the lights Went out.
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Authorship:
- by Mark van Doren (1894 - 1972) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Brian Holmes (b. 1946), "He cut one finger", from Six Lullabies, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Brian Holmes
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 93