Poetry

"England was merry England, when Old Christmas brought his sports again. ’Twas Christmas broach’d the mightiest ale; ’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale; A Christmas gambol oft could cheer The poor man’s heart through half the year."

"And darest thou then To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall?"

"But woe awaits a country when She sees the tears of bearded men."

"O woman! in the hour of strife, The plague, the torment of our life, And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made; Whenever gifts there are enow A condescending creature thou!"

"Still from the sire the son shall hear Of the stern strife, and carnage drear, Of Flodden's fatal field, Where shiver'd was fair Scotland's spear, And broken was her shield!"

"To all, to each, a fair good-night, And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light!"

"A light on Marmion’s visage spread, And fired his glazing eye: With dying hand, above his head, He shook the fragment of his blade, And shouted "Victory!— Charge, Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!" Were the last words of Marmion."

"O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!"

"Heap on more wood!-the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We’ll keep our Christmas merry still."

"O, Woman! in our hours of ease, Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made; When pain and anguish wring the brow, A ministering angel thou!"

"'O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?'"

"For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war, Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar."

"And now am I come, with this lost love of mine, To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine."

"She look'd down to blush, and she look'd up to sigh, With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye."

"So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, There never was knight like the young Lochinvar."

"O, young Lochinvar is come out of the West, Through all the wide Border his steed was the best."

"This little piggy went to market, This little piggy stayed home, This little piggy had roast beef, This little piggy had none, And this little piggy cried, Wee-wee-wee, All the way home."

"Three blind mice, see how they run! They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?"

"Oh, the grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men; He marched them up to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again.When they were up, they were up, And when they were down, they were down, And when they were only halfway up, They were neither up nor down."

"Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard, To fetch her poor dog a bone; But when she came there The cupboard was bare, And so the poor dog had none."

"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The Bed be blest that I lie on. Four angels to my bed, Four angels round my head, One to watch, and one to pray. And two to bear my soul away."

"Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he; He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three. Every fiddler he had a fiddle, And a very fine fiddle had he; Oh, there's none so rare, as can compare, With King Cole and his fiddlers three."

"Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement's.You owe me five farthings, Say the bells of St. Martin's.When will you pay me? Say the bells at Old Bailey.When I grow rich, Say the bells at Shoreditch.When will that be? Say the bells of Stepney.I do not know, Says the great bell at Bow.Here comes a candle to light you to bed, And here comes a chopper to chop off your head! Chip chop chip chop the last man is dead."

"Ring-a-ring o' roses, A pocket full of posies, A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down."

"Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye; Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie.When the pie was opened, The birds began to sing; Wasn’t that a dainty dish, To set before the king?The king was in his counting-house, Counting out his money; The queen was in the parlour, Eating bread and honey.The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes. There came a little blackbird, And snapped off her nose."

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread; Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed."

"Ladybird, ladybird, Fly away home, Your house is on fire And your children all gone; All except one And that’s little Ann And she has crept under The warming pan."

"Little Boy Blue, Come blow your horn. The sheep's in the meadow, The cow's in the corn; Where is the boy Who looks after the sheep? He's under a haystack, Fast asleep. Will you wake him? No, not I, For if I do, He's sure to cry."

"Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner, Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said, What a good boy am I!"

"Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water; Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after.Up Jack got, and home did trot, As fast as he could caper, To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob With vinegar and brown paper.Jill came in and she did grin To see his paper plaster; Mother, vex’d, did whip her next For causing Jack’s disaster."

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again."

"If all the world were paper, And all the sea were ink; If all the trees were bread and cheese, How should we do for drink?"

"Little Robin Redbreast Sat upon a rail; Niddle noddle went his head, Wiggle waggle went his tail."

"Handy spandy, Jack-a-Dandy, Loves plum cake and sugar candy; He bought some at a grocer’s shop, And out he came, hop, hop, hop, hop."

"Doctor Foster went to Gloucester, In a shower of rain; He stepped in a puddle, Right up to his middle, And never went there again."

"Goosey goosey gander, Whither shall I wander? Upstairs and downstairs And in my lady's chamber. There I met an old man Who wouldn't say his prayers, So I took him by his left leg And threw him down the stairs."

"Sing hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed to see such craft, And the dish ran away with the spoon."

"Who killed Cock Robin? I, said the Sparrow, With my bow and arrow, I killed Cock Robin."

"Arthur o'Bower has broken his band, He comes roaring up the land. King of Scots with all his power Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower."

"Hickory dickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, The mouse ran down, Hickory dickory dock."

"Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir, Three bags full; One for the master, And one for the dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane."

"London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, My fair Lady."

"Lucy Locket lost her pocket, found it, But the devil a penny was there in it Except the binding round it."

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells, And pretty maids all in a row."

"Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet, at Cato parvo, Pompeius nullo. Quis putet esse deos? Saxa premunt Licinum, levat altum Fama Catonem, Pompeium tituli. Credimus esse deos."

"The Roman de la Rose, or Romance of the Rose tells a lengthy tale of a wistful young lover who tries to win his lady's love and prove his worthiness at the same time whilst being sad about it a lot. [...] There are a few beautifully illuminated manuscripts which show the hapless lover attempting to overcome obstacles to get to the object of his affection. He first needs to get past a number of virtues and vices personified who either attempt to help or hinder him. [...] The final scene has our hero describing an amazing array of euphemisms for deflowering a virgin. The Lover reaches the tower, but the gate is closed and needs him to push his key in the lock. The entry is too narrow. Images sometimes show twin towers with a very narrow door between them which suggest the legs of a lady and her opening between. Early on in the story, we see that Nature had given the Lover a staff which he polished in the hope of using it shortly."

"Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär Und auch zwei Flüglein hätt, Flög ich zu dir; Weil’s aber nicht kann seyn, Bleib ich allhier."

"Es vergeht keine Stund' in der Nacht, Da mein Herze nicht erwacht, Und an dich gedenkt, Dass du mir viel tausendmal, Dein Herz geschenkt."

"The greatest of all the medieval romances."

"Et sans fol ne puet nus hons vivre, Tant cum il voille Amor ensivre."