by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888)
Calico Pie
Language: English
Calico Pie, The little birds fly Down to the calico tree, Their wings were blue, And they sang "Tilly-loo!" Till away they flew,-- And they never came back to me! They never came back! They never came back! They never came back to me! Calico Jam, The little Fish swam Over the syllabub sea. He took off his hat, To the Sole and the Sprat, And the Willeby-wat,-- But he never came back to me! He never came back! He never came back! He never came back to me! Calico Ban, The little Mice ran, To be ready in time for tea, Flippity flup, They drank it all up, And danced in the cup,-- But they never came back to me! They never came back! They never came back! They never came back to me! Calico Drum, The grasshoppers come, The Butterfly, Beetle, and Bee, Over the ground, Around and round, With a hop and a bound,-- But they never came back! They never came back! They never came back! They never came back to me!
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), "Calico Pie", appears in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, first published 1871 [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), "Calico Pie", 2002 [ soprano and piano ], from "Calico Pie" and Other Nonsense, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Bruce (b. 1915), "Calico Pie", 1948 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Philip Cranmer (b. 1918), "Calico Pie", published 1957 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mervyn Dale , "Calico Pie", published 1973 [ voice and piano ], from Eight Nonsense Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Calico Pie", 2020 [ voice and piano ], from Five Diddles for Voice and Piano on Poems by Edward Lear, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dudley Glass , "Calico Pie", published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Nonsense Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Alfred Grant-Schaefer (1872 - 1939), "Calico Pie", published 1928 [ children's chorus and piano ], from Derry Down Derry [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Ingraham , "Calico Pie", published <<1906 [ voice and piano ], from Nonsense Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Grayson Ives , "Calico Pie", published 1969 [ soprano or tenor and SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John G. Koch (b. 1928), "Calico Pie", published 1965 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edwin Roxburgh (b. 1937), "Calico Pie", published 1972 [ narrator and orchestra ], from How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Pearson Thomas (b. 1957), "Calico Pie" [ soprano and piano ], from A Little Nonsense, songs to texts of Edward Lear for soprano, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-05-07
Line count: 40
Word count: 176