LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (21,107)
  • Text Authors (21,210)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,135)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Paul Fleischman (b. 1952)

We're whirligig beetles
Language: English 
Choose for Diff
We're whirligig beetles 
we're swimming in circles,              We're whirligig beetles 
black backs by the hundred.         we're swimming in circles, 
                                                                                      black backs by the hundred.
                                                                                      We're spinning and swerving
We're spinning and swerving.    as if we were on a
as if we were on a                                      mad merry-go-round.
mad merry-go-round.
We never get dizzy 
from whirling and weaving           We never get dizzy
and wheeling and swirling.            from whirling and weaving
                                                                                      and wheeling and swirling.
                                                                                     The same goes for turning. 
The same goes for turning.            revolving and curving. 
revolving and curving,                        gyrating and twirling.
gyrating and twirling.
The crows fly directly, 
but we prefer spirals,                          The crows fly directly, 
arcs, ovals, and loops.                          but we prefer spirals, 
                                                                                     arcs, ovals and loops.
                                                                                     We're fond of the phrase
"As the whirligig swims".                  "As the whirligig swims"
                                                                                    meaning traveling by  
                                                                                    the most circular
circular                                                              roundabout                                 
roundabout                                                  backtracking
backtracking                                               indirect

indirect                                                            serpentine
serpentine                                                   tortuous 
tortuous                                                        twisty and
twisty,                                                              turny,
best possible                                            best possible 
route.                                                               route.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Paul Fleischman (b. 1952), "Whirligig Beeltes", appears in Joyful Noise; Poems For Two Voices [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 Ruth Watson Henderson (1932 - 2026), "Whirligig beetles", 2001 [ sa chorus and piano ], from Two Insect Songs, no. 1, Earthsongs
        Publisher: Earthsongs [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-04
Line count: 33
Word count: 158

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2026 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris