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by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll

Sister, sister, go to bed!
Language: English 
"Sister, sister, go to bed!
Go and rest your weary head."
Thus the prudent brother said.

"Do you want a battered hide,
Or scratches to your face applied?"
Thus his sister calm replied.

"Sister, do not raise my wrath.
I'd make you into mutton broth
As easily as kill a moth."

The sister raised her beaming eye
And looked on him indignantly
And sternly answered, "Only try!"

Off to the cook he quickly ran.
"Dear Cook, please lend a frying-pan
To me as quickly as you can."

"And wherefore should I lend it you?"
"The reason, Cook, is plain to view.
I wish to make an Irish stew."

"What meat is in that stew to go?"
"My sister'll be the contents!"
"Oh?"
"You'll lend the pan to me, Cook?"
"No!"

Moral: Never stew your sister. 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, "Brother and Sister" [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Never stew your sister", 2014 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Sister, sister, go to bed!", 2020 [ voice and piano ], from A Game of Five, Six Nonsense Songs for Voice and Piano on Verse by Lewis Carroll, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2017-11-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 135

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