A was an ant
Who seldom stood still,
And who made a nice house
In the side of a hill.
B was a book
With a binding of blue,
And pictures and stories
For me and for you.
C was a cat
Who ran after a rat;
But his courage did fail
When she seized on his tail.
D was a duck
With spots on his back,
Who lived in the water,
And always said "Quack!"
E was an elephant,
Stately and wise:
He had tusks and a trunk,
And two queer little eyes.
e!
Oh, what funny small eyes!
F was a fish
Who was caught in a net;
But he got out again,
And is quite alive yet.
G was a goat
Who was spotted with brown:
When he did not lie still
He walked up and down.
H was a hat
Which was all on one side;
Its crown was too high,
And its brim was too wide.
I was some ice
So white and so nice,
But which nobody tasted;
And so it was wasted.
J was a jackdaw
Who hopped up and down
In the principal street
Of a neighboring town.
j!
All through the town!
K was a kite
Which flew out of sight,
Above houses so high,
Quite into the sky.
L was a light
Which burned all the night,
And lighted the gloom
Of a very dark room.
M was a mill
Which stood on a hill,
And turned round and round
With a loud hummy sound.
N was a net
Which was thrown in the sea
To catch fish for dinner
For you and for me.
O was an orange
So yellow and round:
When it fell off the tree,
It fell down to the ground.
P was a pig,
Who was not very big;
But his tail was too curly,
And that made him surly.
Q was a quail
With a very short tail;
And he fed upon corn
In the evening and morn.
q!
Quaint little quail!
R was a rabbit,
Who had a bad habit
Of eating the flowers
In gardens and bowers.
S was the sugar-tongs,
Nippity-nee,
To take up the sugar
To put in our tea.
T was a tortoise,
All yellow and black:
He walked slowly away,
And he never came back.
t!
Torty never came back!
U was an urn
All polished and bright,
And full of hot water
At noon and at night.
V was a villa
Which stood on a hill,
By the side of a river,
And close to a mill.
W was a whale
With a very long tail,
Whose movements were frantic
Across the Atlantic.
w!
Monstrous old whale!
X was King Xerxes,
Who, more than all Turks, is
Renowned for his fashion
Of fury and passion.
Y was a yew,
Which flourished and grew
By a quiet abode
Near the side of a road.
Z was some zinc,
So shiny and bright,
Which caused you to wink
In the sun's merry light.
A was once an apple-pie,
Pidy,
Widy,
Tidy,
Pidy,
Nice insidy,
Apple-pie!
B was once a little bear,
Beary,
Wary,
Hairy,
Beary,
Taky cary,
Little bear!
C was once a little cake,
Caky,
Baky,
Maky,
Caky,
Taky caky,
Little cake!
D was once a little doll,
Dolly,
Molly,
Polly,
Nolly,
Nursy dolly,
Little doll!
E was once a little eel,
Eely,
Weely,
Peely,
Eely,
Twirly, tweely,
Little eel!
F was once a little fish,
Fishy,
Wishy,
Squishy,
Fishy,
In a dishy,
Little fish!
G was once a little goose,
Goosy,
Moosy,
Boosey,
Goosey,
Waddly-woosy,
Little goose!
H was once a little hen,
Henny,
Chenny,
Tenny,
Henny.
Eggsy-any,
Little hen?
I was once a bottle of ink
Inky,
Dinky,
Thinky,
Inky,
Blacky minky,
Bottle of ink!
J was once a jar of jam,
Jammy,
Mammy,
Clammy,
Jammy,
Sweety, swammy,
Jar of jam!
K was once a little kite,
Kity,
Whity,
Flighty,
Kity,
Out of sighty,
Little kite!
L was once a little lark,
Larky,
Marky,
Harky,
Larky,
In the parky,
Little lark!
M was once a little mouse,
Mousy,
Bousy,
Sousy,
Mousy,
In the housy,
Little mouse!
N was once a little needle,
Needly,
Tweedly,
Threedly,
Needly,
Wisky, wheedly,
Little needle!
O was once a little owl,
Owly,
Prowly,
Howly,
Owly,
Browny fowly,
Little owl!
P was once a little pump,
Pumpy,
Slumpy,
Flumpy,
Pumpy,
Dumpy, thumpy,
Little pump!
Q was once a little quail,
Quaily,
Faily,
Daily,
Quaily,
Stumpy-taily,
Little quail!
R was once a little rose,
Rosy,
Posy,
Nosy,
Rosy,
Blows-y, grows-y,
Little rose!
S was once a little shrimp,
Shrimpy,
Nimpy,
Flimpy,
Shrimpy.
Jumpy, jimpy,
Little shrimp!
T was once a little thrush,
Thrushy,
Hushy,
Bushy,
Thrushy,
Flitty, flushy,
Little thrush!
U was once a little urn,
Urny,
Burny,
Turny,
Urny,
Bubbly, burny,
Little urn!
V was once a little vine,
Viny,
Winy,
Twiny,
Viny,
Twisty-twiny,
Little vine!
W was once a whale,
Whaly,
Scaly,
Shaly,
Whaly,
Tumbly-taily,
Mighty whale!
X was once a great king Xerxes,
Xerxy,
Perxy,
Turxy,
Xerxy,
Linxy, lurxy,
Great King Xerxes!
Y was once a little yew,
Yewdy,
Fewdy,
Crudy,
Yewdy,
Growdy, grewdy,
Little yew!
Z was once a piece of zinc,
Tinky,
Winky,
Blinky,
Tinky,
Tinkly minky,
Piece of zinc!
A was an ape,
Who stole some white tape,
And tied up his toes
In four beautiful bows.
B was a bat,
Who slept all the day,
And fluttered about
When the sun went away.
C was a camel:
You rode on his hump;
And if you fell off,
You came down such a bump!
D was a dove,
Who lived in a wood,
With such pretty soft wings,
And so gentle and good!
E was an eagle,
Who sat on the rocks,
And looked down on the fields
And the-far-away flocks.
F was a fan
Made of beautiful stuff;
And when it was used,
It went puffy-puff-puff!
G was a gooseberry,
Perfectly red;
To be made into jam,
And eaten with bread.
H was a heron,
Who stood in a stream:
The length of his neck
And his legs was extreme.
I was an inkstand,
Which stood on a table,
With a nice pen to write with
When we are able.
J was a jug,
So pretty and white,
With fresh water in it
At morning and night.
K was a kingfisher:
Quickly he flew,
So bright and so pretty!--
Green, purple, and blue.
L was a lily,
So white and so sweet!
To see it and smell it
Was quite a nice treat.
M was a man,
Who walked round and round;
And he wore a long coat
That came down to the ground.
N was a nut
So smooth and so brown!
And when it was ripe,
It fell tumble-dum-down.
O was an oyster,
Who lived in his shell:
If you let him alone,
He felt perfectly well.
P was a polly,
All red, blue, and green,--
The most beautiful polly
That ever was seen.
Q was a quill
Made into a pen;
But I do not know where,
And I cannot say when.
R was a rattlesnake,
Rolled up so tight,
Those who saw him ran quickly,
For fear he should bite.
S was a screw
To screw down a box;
And then it was fastened
Without any locks.
T was a thimble,
Of silver so bright!
When placed on the finger,
It fitted so tight!
U was an upper-coat,
Woolly and warm,
To wear over all
In the snow or the storm.
What a nice upper-coat!
V was a veil
With a border upon it,
And a ribbon to tie it
All round a pink bonnet.
W was a watch,
Where, in letters of gold,
The hour of the day
You might always behold.
X was King Xerxes,
Who wore on his head
A mighty large turban,
Green, yellow, and red.
Y was a yak,
From the land of Thibet:
Except his white tail,
He was all black as jet.
Z was a zebra,
All striped white and black;
And if he were tame,
You might ride on his back.
