LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,158)
  • Text Authors (19,576)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,115)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , as Folk songs

The house that Jack built
Language: English 
This is the house that Jack built.

This is the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat, 
That killed the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That kill'd the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn, 
That tossed the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That kill'd the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the maiden all forlorn, 
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn, 
That tossed the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That killed the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the man all tattered and torn, 
That kissed the maiden all forlorn, 
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That killed the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn, 
That married the man all tattered and torn, 
That kissed the maiden all forlorn, 
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That killed the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn, 
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn, 
That married the man all tatter'd and torn, 
That kissed the maiden all forlorn, 
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn, 
That tossed the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That killed the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the farmer sowing the corn, 
That kept the cock that crowed in the morn, 
That waked the priest all shaven and shorn,
That married the man all tattered and torn, 
That kissed the maiden all forlorn, 
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog, 
That worried the cat, 
That killed the rat, 
That ate the malt 
That lay in the house that Jack built.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   S. Homer 

S. Homer sets stanzas 1-2, 5, 7-8, 10-11

Confirmed with The Real Mother Goose, illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright, New York: Scholastic, 1916, pages 68-69.


Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , as Folk songs, "The house that Jack built" [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 Sidney Homer (1864 - 1953), "The house that Jack built", op. 36 (Songs from Mother Goose), published 1920, copyright © 1920, stanzas 1-2, 5, 7-8, 10-11 [ voice and piano ], from Songs from Mother Goose [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-03-07
Line count: 66
Word count: 382

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris