A Python I should not advise, -- It needs a doctor for its eyes, And has the measles yearly, However, if you feel inclined To get one (to improve your mind, And not from fashion merely), Allow no music near its cage; And when if flies into a rage Chastise it, most severely. I had an Aunt in Yucatan Who bought a Python from a man And kept it for a pet. She died, because she never knew These simple little rules and few; -- The Snake is living yet.
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Authorship:
- by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870 - 1953), "The python", appears in More Beasts for Worse Children, first published 1897 [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 Mildred Couper , "The python", published 1928 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur R. Frackenpohl (b. 1924), "The python", published 1961 [ chorus and piano ], from Three Cautionary Tales [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-17
Line count: 15
Word count: 88