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by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll
Translation by Henri Bué (1843 - 1929)

Speak roughly to your little boy
Language: English 
Speak roughly to your little boy,
And beat him when he sneezes;
He only does it to annoy,
Because he knows it teases.

I speak severely to my boy,
[I]1 beat him when he sneezes;
For he can thoroughly enjoy
The pepper when [he]2 pleases!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: this is a parody of David Bates' "Speak Gently."
1 or "And"
2 or "ye"

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, first published 1865 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Pig and Pepper", 1991, published 1996 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from "Alice" Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "The Duchess' Lullaby", 1982 [ baritone and piano ], from Five Lewis Carroll Poems, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ulf A. Grahn , "The Duchess' Lullaby", published 1989, first performed 1992 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy", published 1908 [ contralto ], from Nonsense Songs: The Songs That Came Out Wrong, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Nicholas Maw (1935 - 2009), "Speak roughly to your little boy", published 1978 [ voice (or unison voices) and piano ], from Caroline Pink (and other Nonsense Rhymes), no. 1, London ; New York : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Henri Bué) , no title


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 47

Parle durement à ton petit garçon
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Parle durement à ton petit garçon,
Et bats-le lorsqu’il éternue :
Il fait cela uniquement parce que c’est un polisson,
et qu’il sait que cela nous tue.

Je parle durement à mon garnement,
Je le bats lorsqu’il éternue ;
Car il peut aimer complètement
Le poivre, que dans ses narines, j’insinue.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Henri Bué (1843 - 1929), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, first published 1865
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-04-12
Line count: 8
Word count: 49

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