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!'