i. Once Mr. Daddy Long-Legs, Dressed in brown and gray, Walked about upon the sands Upon a summer's day; And there among the pebbles, When the wind was rather cold, He met with Mr. Floppy Fly, All dressed in blue and gold. And as it was too soon to dine, They drank some Periwinkle-wine, And played an hour or two, or more, At battlecock and shuttledore. ii. Said Mr. Daddy Long-Legs To Mr. Floppy Fly, "Why do you never come to court? "I wish you'd tell me why. "All gold and shine, in dress so fine, "You'd quite delight the court. "Why do you never go at all? "I really think you ought! "And if you went, you'd see such sights! "Such rugs! and jugs! and candle-lights!" "And more than all, the King and Queen, "One in red, and one in green!" iii. "O Mr. Daddy Long-Legs, Said Mr. Floppy Fly, "It's true I never go to court, "And I will tell you why. "If I had six long legs like yours, "At once I'd go to court! "But oh! I can't, because my legs "Are so extremely short. "And I'm afraid the King and Queen "(One in red, and one in green) "Would say aloud, 'You are not fit, "'You Fly, to come to court a bit!" iv. "O Mr. Daddy Long-Legs," Said Mr. Floppy Fly, "I wish you'd sing one little song! "One mumbian melody! "You used to sing so awful well "In former days gone by, "But now you never sing at all; "I wish you'd tell me why: "For if you would, the silvery sound "Would please the shrimps and cockles round, "And all the crabs would gladly come "To hear you sing, 'Ah, Hum di Hum!'" v. Said Mr. Daddy Long-Legs, "I can never sing again! "And if you wish, I'll tell you why, "Although it gives me great pain. "For years I could not hum a bit, "Or sing the smallest song; "And this the dreadful reason is, "My legs are grown too long! "My six long legs, all here and there, "Oppress my bosom with despair; "And if I stand, or lie, or sit, "I cannot sing one single bit!" vi. So Mr. Daddy Long-Legs And Mr. Floppy Fly Sat down in silence by the sea, And gazed upon the sky. They said, "This is a dreadful thing! "The world has all gone wrong, "Since one has legs too short by half, "The other much too long!" "One never more can go to court, "Because his legs have grown too short; "The other cannot sing a song, "Because his legs have grown too long!" vii. Then Mr. Daddy Long-Legs And Mr. Floppy Fly Rushed downward to the foaming sea With one sponge-taneous cry; And there they found a little boat Whose sails were pink and gray; And off they sailed among the waves Far, and far away. They sailed across the silent main And reached the great Gromboolian plain; And there they play for evermore As battlecock and shuttledore.
Nonsense Songs
Song Cycle by Emily Josephine Troup (d. 1912)
?. The Daddy Longlegs  [sung text not yet checked]
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), "The Daddy Long-Legs and the Fly", appears in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, first published 1871
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]?. The Jumblies  [sung text not yet checked]
They went to sea in a Sieve, they did, In a Sieve they went to sea: In spite of all their friends could say. On a winter's morn, on a stormy day, In a Sieve they went to sea! And when the Sieve turned round and round, And everyone cried, "You'll all be drowned!" They all called aloud, "Our Sieve ain't big, "But we don't care a button! We don't care a fig! "In a Sieve we'll go to sea!" Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. They sailed away in a Sieve, they did, In a Sieve they sailed so fast, With only a beautiful pea-green veil Tied with a riband by way of a sail, To a small tobacco-pipe mast; And every one said, who saw them go, "O won't they be soon upset, you know! "For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long, "And happen what may, it's extremely wrong "In a Sieve to sail so fast!" Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. The water it soon came in, it did, The water it soon came in; So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet In a pinky paper all folded neat, And they fastened it down with a pin. And they passed the night in a crockery-jar, And each of them said, "How wise we are! "Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long, "Yet we never can think we were rash on wrong, "While round in our Sieve we spin!" Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. And all night long they sailed away; And when the sun went down, They whistled and warbled a moony song To the echoing sound of a coppery gong, In the shade of the mountains brown. "O Timballo! How happy we are, "When we live in a sieve and a crockery-jar. "And all night long in the moonlight pale, "In the shade of the mountains brown!" Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. They sailed to the Western Sea, they did, To a land all covered with trees, And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart, And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart, And a hive of silvery Bees. And they bought a Pig, and some green Jackdaws, And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws, And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree, And no end of Stilton Cheese. Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. And in twenty years they all came back, In twenty years or more, And every one said, "How tall they've grown! "For they've been to the Lakes, and the Terrible Zone, "And the hills of the Chankly Bore,: And they drank to their health, and gave them a feast Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast; And every one said, "If we only live, "We too will go to sea in a Sieve, -- "To the hills of the Chankly Bore!" Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), "The Jumblies", appears in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, first published 1871
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]?. The Duck and the Kangaroo  [sung text not yet checked]
i. Said the Duck to the Kangaroo, "Good gracious! how you hop! "Over the fields and the water, too, "As if you never would stop! "My life is a bore in this nasty pond, "And I long to go out in the world beyond! "I wish I could hop like you!" Said the Duck to the Kangaroo. ii. "Please give me a ride on your back!" Said the Duck to the Kangaroo. "I would sit quite still, and say nothing but 'Quack,' "The whole of the long day through! "And we'd go to the Dee, and the Jelly Bo Lee, "Over the land, and over the sea; -- "Please take me a ride! O do!" Said the Duck to the Kangaroo. iii. Said the Kangaroo to the Duck, "This requires some little reflection; "Perhaps on the whole it might bring me luck, "And there seems but one objection, "Which is, if you'll let speak so bold, "Your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold, "And would probably give me the roo- "Matiz!" said the Kangaroo. iv. Said the Duck, "As I sate on the rocks, "I have thought over that completely, "And I bought four pairs of worsted socks "Which fit my web-feet neatly. "And to keep out the cold I've bought a cloak, "And every day a cigar I'll smoke, "All to follow my own dear true "Love of a Kangaroo!" v. Said the Kangaroo, "I'm ready! "All on the moonlight pale; "But to balance me well, dear Duck, sit steady! "And quite at the end of my tail!" So away they went with a hop and a bound, And they hopped the whole world three times round; And who so happy, -- O who, As the Duck and the Kangaroo?
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), "The Duck and the Kangaroo", appears in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, first published 1871
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]