A lion has a tail and a very fine tail,

Same old trenches, same old view,Same old rats as blooming tame,Same old dug-outs, nothing new,Same old smell, the very same,Same old bodies out in front,Same old ‘strafe’ from two till four,Same old scratching, same old ‘unt,Same old bloody war.

I never did, I never did,I never did want ‘Hold-my-hand’;I never did, I never did,I never did think much of ‘Not up there, dear!’It’s no good saying it.They don’t understand.

Rocking in the ripples of the water,Lazy on a leaf lies the Lake King’s daugher,And the faint winds shake her.Who will come and take her?I will! I will!Keep still! Keep still!Sleeping on a leaf lies the Lake King’s daughter. . . .Then the wind comes skippingTo the lilies on the water;And the kind winds wake…

I think it is a Brownie, but I’m not quite certain.(Nanny isn’t certain, too.)I looked behind the curtain, but he went so quickly –Brownies never wait to say, ‘How do you do?’They wriggle off at once because they’re all so tickly(Nanny says they’re tickly too.)

I am the King of the fields, and the KingOf the town.I am the King of the earth, and the KingOf the sky.Here I go up in my swing…Now I go down.

Five on the high wall,And four on the low;Big Kings and Little Kings,Brown Bears and Black,All of them waitingTill John comes back.Some think that John boyIs lost in the wood,Some say he couldn’t be,Some say he could.Some think that John boyHides on the hill;Some say he won’t come back,Some say he will.High was the sun,…

George was a goat, and his beard was yellow,And James was a very small snail.Leonard had a stall, and a great big strong one,Earnest had a manger, and its walls were thick,George found a pen, but I think it was the wrong one,And James sat down on a brickEarnest started trumpeting, and cracked his manger,Leonard…

When I was Two,I was nearly new.When I was Three,I was hardly Me.When I was Four,I was not much more.When I was Five,I was just alive.But now I am Six, I’m as clever as clever.So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

The sun looks down from quiet skiesTo where a quiet water lies,And silent trees stoop down to the trees.And there I saw a white swan makeAnother white swan in the lake;And, breast to breast, both motionless,They waited for the wind’s caress. . .And all the water was at ease.

And so has a crocodile, and so has a quail–They’ve all got tails but me.If I had sixpence I would buy one;I’d say to the shopman, ‘Let me try one’;I’d say to the elephant, ‘This is my one.’They’d all come round to see.Then I’d say to the lion, ‘Why, you’ve got a tail!And so has…

A Bishop than a Major-Gen.,And nothing since has made me warlike;But when this agelong struggle endsAnd I have seen the Allies dish upThe goose of Hindenburg—oh, friends!I shall out-bish the mildest Bishop.When the War is over and the Kaiser’s out of print,I’m going to buy some tortoises and watch the beggars sprint;When the War is…

WaterproofBoots on;John had aGreat BigWaterproofHat;John had aGreat BigWaterproofMackintosh —And that(Said John)IsThat.