The Centipede
The Centipede
Original Text
Edith L. M. King, Country Rhymes for Children (Oxford: B. H. Blackwell, 1909): 59-60. 011650.e.42 British Library
1I've often watched you, centipede,
2And I can't think however
3You manage those long rows of feet --
4You must be very clever.
5You seem to do it all so pat,
6Without a slip or jumble;
7If I could play my scales like that
8Mamma would never grumble.
9Compared with you I feel a dunce,
10But then, of course, it may be
11You did not learn it all at once
12When you were but a baby,
13So I may hope, dear centipede,
14That there's a good day coming,
15When I shall play long runs with speed
16Instead of slowly strumming.
Publication Start Year
1909
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2000.
Rhyme