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Have you been catching of fish, Tom Noddy? Have you snared a weeping hare? Have you whistled "No Nunny" and gunned a poor bunny, Or blinded a bird of the air? Have you trod like a murderer through the green woods, Through the dewy deep dingles and glooms, While every small creature screamed shrill to Dame Nature "He comes - and he comes!"? Wonder I very much do, Tom Noddy, If ever, when you are a-roam, An Ogre from space will stoop a lean face, And lug you home: Lug you home over his fence, Tom Noddy, Of thorn-sticks nine yards high, With your bent knees strung round his old iron gun And your head a dan-dangling by: And hang you up stiff on a hook, Tom Noddy, From a stone-cold pantry shelf, Whence your eyes will glare in an empty stare, Till you're cooked yourself!
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View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Tit for tat", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 5. Beasts, no. 7, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Tit for tat", published 1969 [ voice and piano ], from Tit for tat, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Freda Mary Swain (1902 - 1985), "Tit for tat", 1949-50 [ baritone and piano ], from From "Peacock Pie" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Tal faràs, tal trobaràs", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Un prêté pour un rendu", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Wie du mir, so ich dir", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 145
Hast du Fische gefangen, Tomm Noddy? Ist in der Falle ein Hase verendet? Hast gepfiffen "Kein Späßchen" und erschossen ein Häschen, oder hast du 'nen Vogel geblendet? Bist wie ein Mörder durch Wälder gestreift, durch klamme Klammen, klaftertief, düster, als zu Mutter Natur jedes Tierlein schrie schrill "Hier kommt er - da ist er!" ? Ich frag mich, frage mich sehr, Tom Noddy, ob je, wenn durch Wiese und Wald du streifst, ein Monster vom All dich bringt grinsend zu Fall, dich greift und nach Hause schleift: dich zerrt über seine Umzäunung, Tom Noddy, eine neun Meter hohe Stachelwehr, deine Knie geschnürt an den eisernen Lauf und dein Kopf baumelt hin und her: dich starr an den Haken hängt, Tom Noddy, in einer Kammer, steinern und kalt, wo ins Leere du starrst und auf nichts mehr harrst, bis man dich selbst brät alsbald.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Tit for tat", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 5. Beasts, no. 7, first published 1913
This text was added to the website: 2013-11-09
Line count: 20
Word count: 141