Poems (стихотворения)

Rain, rain, go away,

Come again another day,

Little Johnny wants to play.

Rain, rain, go to Spain,

Never show your face again.

Why do you cry, Willy?

Why do you cry?

Why, Willy? Why, Willy?

Why, Willy? Why?

From Wibbleton to Wobbleton is fifteen miles, from Wobbleton to Wibbleton is fifteen miles,

From Wibbleton to Wobbleton,

From Wobbleton to Wibbleton,

From Wibbleton to Wobbleton is fifteen miles.

Do you love me,

Or do you not?

You told me once,

But I forgot.

I love coffee,

I love tea,

I love the girls,

And the girls love me.

Something old, something new,

Something borrowed, something blue,

And a penny in her shoe.

I never saw a purple cow,

I never hope to see one;

But I can tell you, anyhow,

I'd rather see than be one.

Jack, be nimble; Jack, be quick;

Jack, jump over the candlestick

Fred’s Poems

Fred Gets Up at Eight O'clock

Fred gets up at eight o'clock,

his cats get up at seven.

His dog wakes up at ten to six,

but his bird sleeps 'till eleven.

Fred Gave a Party but Nobody Came

Fred gave a party, but nobody came.

Nobody came but his Mom.

Fred gave a party, but nobody came.

Nobody came but Tom.

Tom left early.

Mom went home.

Fred had to stay at his party alone.

Four Fat Flies

I wish I could find those four fat flies

That flew in my window last Friday night.

Four flies flew in, four flies, not three.

One landed on Fred, three landed on me.

There was an old woman and nothing she had.

And so this old woman was said to be mad.

She’d nothing to eat, she’d nothing to wear,

She’d nothing to lose, she’d nothing to fear,

She’d nothing to ask, she’d nothing to give,

And when she did die, she’d nothing to leave.

There was a little girl, and she had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead;

When she was good, she was very, very good,

But when she was bad, she was horrid.

Whistle, whistle, daughter; whistle, daughter, dear!

I ran not whistle, Mummy; I can not whistle clear!

Whistle, daughter, whistle; whistle for a pound!

I can not whistle. Mummy; I can not make a sound!

Swift the moments, fly away,

First the hour, and then the day;

Next the week, the month, the year

Go away and disappear.

Time is always on the wing,

When I speak, or think, or sing;

When I work, or sleep, or play,

Time is flying fast away.

Such lovely things to hear and see

Belong to you, belong to me!

The sun, the trees, the grass, the sky,

The silver moon that’s sailing by.

Soft whispering winds, the birds that sing,

Bright autumn leaves, gay flowers of spring,

The rain and dew and snowflakes white,

The sparkling waves, the stars of night.

Rain, rain, rain, April rain,

You are feeding seeds and grain,

You are raising plants and crops

With your gaily sparkling drops.

The Riddling Knight

O, what is louder than a horn?

And what is sharper than a thorn?

What is heavier than the lead?

And what is better than the bread?

O, what is higher than the tree?

And what is deeper than the sea?

O, shame is louder than a horn,

And hunger is sharper than a thorn.

And sin is heavier than the lead,

And the blessing's better than the bread.

O, Heaven is higher than the tree,

And love is deeper than the sea.

From "A collection of Rhymes and Poems" (Chosen by James Reeves)

The Duty of the Strong

You who are the oldest,

You who are the tallest,

Don't you think you ought to help

The youngest and the smallest?

You who are the strongest,

You who are the quickest,

Don't you think you ought to help

The weakest and the sickest?

Never mind the trouble,

Help them all you can;

Be a little woman! Be a little man!

(Gillette Burgess)

Nursery Rhymes

I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,

The reason why I cannot tell;

But this I know and know full well,

I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.

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.

Barber, barber, shave a pig,

How many hairs will make a wig?

Four and twenty, that’s enough.

Give the barber a pinch of snuff.

There was an old man,

And he had a calf,

That’s half.

He took him out of the stall,

And put him on the wall,

And that’s all.

A wise old owl sat on the oak,

The more he heard the less he spoke;

The less he spoke the more he heard.

Why aren’t we all like that wise bird?

Where are you going, my little kittens?

We are going to town to get us some mittens.

What! Mittens for kittens!

Do kittens wear mittens?

Who ever saw little kittens with mittens?

When the wind blows,

Then the mill goes;

When the wind drops,

Then the mill stops.

When clouds appear

Like rocks and towers,

The Earth’s refreshed

By frequent showers.

Little Betty Blue

Lost her holiday shoe,

What can little Betty do?

Give her another,

To match the other,

And then she may walk out in two.

There was a man,

And his name was Dob,

And he had a wife,

And her name was Mob.

And he had a dog,

And he called it Bob,

And she had a cat,

Called Chitterabob.

“Bob”, says Dob;

“Chitterabob”, says Mob.

Dame Trot and her cat

Sat down for a chat;

The Dame sat on this side

And the puss sat on that.

Puss, says the Dame,

Can you catch a rat,

Or a mouse in the dark?

Purr, says the cat.

Hector Protector was dressed all in green;

Hector Protector was sent to the Queen.

The Queen did not like him,

No more did the King;

So Hector Protector was sent back again.

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.

Little Tom Tittlemouse

Lived in a bell-house;

The bell-house broke,

And Tom Tittlemouse woke.

Robin Hood

Has gone to wood;

He’ll come back again

If we are good.

Little fishes in a brook,

Father caught them on a hook,

Mother fried them in a pan,

Johnnie eats the like a man.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the Queen.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat,

What did you do there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under the chair.

Limericks (by Edward Lear)

There was an Old Man of Peru,

Who dreamt he was eating his shoe.

He woke up in the night

In a terrible fright.

And found it was perfectly true!

There was a Young Man of Calcutta,

Who spoke with a terrible stutter.

He said, “If you please,

Will you pass me the cheese?

And the b-b-b-b-b-b-butter”.

There was a Young Lady of Niger,

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.

They returned from the ride

With the lady inside,

And the smile on the face of the tiger.

There was an Old Man with a nose.

Who said, “If you choose to suppose

That my nose is too long

You are certainly wrong!”

That remarkable man with a nose.

There was an Old Man on a hill.

Who seldom, if ever, stood still.

He ran up and down

In his grandmother's gown,

Which adorned the Old Man on a hill.

There was an Old Man of Hong Kong,

Who never did anything wrong.

He lay on his back,

With his head in a sack,

That innocuous Old Man of Hong Kong.

There was an Old Man of Berlin,

Whose form was uncommonly thin.

Till he once, by mistake,

Was mixed up in a cake,

So they baked that Old Man of Berlin.

There was an Old Man in a garden,

Who always begged everyone's pardon.

When they asked him, “What for?”

He replied, “You are a bore!

And I trust you'll go out of my garden!”

There was an Old Person of Dean,

Who dined on one pea and one bean;

For he said, “More than that,

Would make me too fat,”

That cautious Old Person of Dean.

There was an Old Man of Dumbree,

Who taught little owls to drink tea;

For he said, “To eat mice

Is no proper or nice.”

That amiable Man of Dumbree.

There was an old man with a beard,

Who said, “It is just as feared –

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard.”

There was an Old Man in a barge,

Whose nose was exceedingly large;

But in fishing by night,

It supported a light,

Which helped that Old Man in a barge.

There was an Old Person whose habits

Induced her to feed upon rabbits;

When he’d eaten eighteen,

He turned perfectly green,

Upon which he relinquished these habits.

There was an Old Man with a gong,

Who bumped at it all the day long;

But they called out, “O law!

You’re a horrid old bore!”

So they smashed that Old Person with a gong.

There was a Young Lady of Portugal,

Whose ideas were excessively nautical:

She climbed up a tree,

To examine the sea,

But declared she would never leave Portugal.

There was an Old Man of Peru,

Who never knew what he should do;

So hr tore off his hair,

And behaved like a bear,

That intrinsic Old Man of Peru.

There was an Old Person of Buda,

Whose conduct grew ruder and ruder;

Till at last, with a hammer,

They silenced his clamour,

By smashing that Person of Buda.

There was an Old Man of the Wrekin,

Whose shoes made a terrible creaking;

But they said, “Tell us whether,

Your shoes are of leather,

Or of what, you Old Man of the Wrekin?”

There was a Young Lady whose eyes

Were unique as to colour and size;

When she opened them wide,

People all turned aside,

And started away in surprise.

There was a Yong Lady whose nose

Was so long that it reached to her toes;

So she hired an old lady,

Whose conduct was steady,

To carry that wonderful nose.

There was a Young Lady from Russia,

Who screamed so that no one could hush her;

Her screams were extreme,

No one heard such a scream,

As was screamed by that lady from Russia.

Poems for Staging