I stuck a pin into a chair

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Language: English

I stuck a pin into a chair,
To stick in someone sitting there;
And so well was it hid, the sight
Could not rest on its point so bright.

I threw an egg into the air - 
It fell on someone, I don't know where;
For who so swift of sight or leg
As to dodge the flight of a hard-boiled egg?

Long, long afterwards, squashed out flat,
I found the egg on a curate's hat;
And the pin, through its pointed end,
Was unexpectedly found by a friend.

Note: this is a parody of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The arrow and the song.

Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked 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 Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "I stuck a pin into a chair", subtitle: "(L-ngf-ll-w.)", published 1914 [ soprano, tenor and piano ], from Parody Pie, no. 8, Chappell & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2017-09-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 89