How Doth the Little Crocodile - a Poetry Friday post
- Jan. 29th, 2016 at 2:19 PM
The author of today's poem would have celebrated his birthday earlier this week (on the 27th, to be exact). He wrote poetry as well as prose, and also contributed to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, along with being a photographer. And he also taught mathematics. Basically, he was a polymath.
Anyhow, today I'm sharing a short poem by Lewis Carroll from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
How Doth the Little Crocodile
by Lewis Carroll
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
This poem is a parody poem of a well-known "instructional" poem at that time, "Against Idleness and Mischief" from a book called Divine Songs for Children by Isaac Watts, a noted Nonconformist hymnwriter. It begins "How doth the little busy bee/Improve each shining hour,/And gather honey all the day/From every opening flower!", and ends with exhortations to be diligent and avoid Satan. You can read the full text here. Carroll's poem is still widely anthologized for children these days, whereas the Watts poem has fallen out of favor.
You can find other Poetry Friday posts by clicking the box below, which will take you to today's host, Reading to the Core:


Anyhow, today I'm sharing a short poem by Lewis Carroll from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
How Doth the Little Crocodile
by Lewis Carroll
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
This poem is a parody poem of a well-known "instructional" poem at that time, "Against Idleness and Mischief" from a book called Divine Songs for Children by Isaac Watts, a noted Nonconformist hymnwriter. It begins "How doth the little busy bee/Improve each shining hour,/And gather honey all the day/From every opening flower!", and ends with exhortations to be diligent and avoid Satan. You can read the full text here. Carroll's poem is still widely anthologized for children these days, whereas the Watts poem has fallen out of favor.
You can find other Poetry Friday posts by clicking the box below, which will take you to today's host, Reading to the Core:
- Current Location:my writing room
- Current Mood:
sore
- Current Music:Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Rod Stewart (stereo)
Tags:

Profile
kellyrfineman
- kellyrfineman
- Website
Latest Month
April 2018 | ||||||
S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
29 | 30 |
Tags
- 2008
- 2009
- 5 things
- 7-imp
- a midsummer night's dream
- a room of one's own
- a winter's persuasion
- a winter's pride & prejudice
- acampora
- adam rex
- adams
- adoff
- africa
- ahlberg
- aids
- airborne toxic event
- ala
- albert
- alcott
- aldrich
- alexander
- alexandrine
- alexie
- allen
- allende
- alliteration
- amazonfail
- amphibrachs
- analysis of poems
- anapests
- ancestry
- anderson
- andrews
- angelou
- anglo saxon verse
- annelis
- anonymous
- anthologies
- arizona
- armiño
- armstrong
- arnold
- aronson
- art
- art history
- articles
- as you like it
- asher
- assonance
- aston
- at the boardwalk
- atkins
- atkinson
- aubade
- auden
- audio
- audiobooks
- auerbach
- august at the abbey
- austen
- author verbs
- authors
- autumn
- autumn primer
- averbeck
- avi
- awards
- azarian
- b2.0
- bachelet
- bacigalupi
- backman
- baker
- baking
- baldacci
- ballads
- ballet
- banned books
- banville
- bardhan-quallen
- barnes
- barrager
- barrows
- barry
- bartoletti
- baseball
- basho
- basu sempere
- bauckham
- baxter
- bean
- becker-echivard
- beecroft
- bell
- belle
- belmar
- bennett
- berenbaum
- berger
- berlin
- berry
- bertsche
- best books
- bibliography
- biggs
- biographies
- biography
- bird
- birds
- birdsall
- birtha
- bisaillon
- bishop
- black
- black history month
- blackwood
- blake
- blank verse
- bliss
- blitt
- blogs
- blume
- bly
- board books
- boardwalk
- bodden
- boiger
- bondy
- book challenges
- book covers
- book list
- book news
- book proposals
- book readings
- book review
- book reviews
- book signings
- book stores
- book tours
- bookcases
- books
- bow
- bowles
- boynton
- bracken
- bradbury
- bradbury country
- bradstreet
- brainradio
- breaking waves
- breaks
- brennan
- brewer
- brewster
- briant
- broach
- brockway
- bronte
- brooke
- brooks
- brown
- browning
- bruehl
- bruel
- brunelle
- brush up your shakespeare month
- bryant
- building a poetry collection
- bunce
- burgis
- burke
- burn
- burnford
- burns
- burr
- business
- byars
- byatt
- byron
- cabot
- calkhoven
- cameron
- camoens
- canada
- canning
- carle
- carlson
- carnival
- carrie jones
- carroll
- cash
- cashore
- castellucci
- cavanagh
- censorship
- cervantes
- chandler
- chantarelle's notebook
- chapter books
- character development
- charities
- chaucer
- chiasmus
- child
- childhood
- childhood reading
- children
- children's book world
- children's books
- children's literature
- children's magazines
- children&
- childrens' books
- christie
- cinderella
- cinquain
- civic duty
- civil war
- clapp
- clayton
- cleary
- cleolinda
- clerihew
- clifton
- clogyrnach
- cocteau
- codell
- colasanti
- colbert
- cole
- coleridge
- colicchio
- collier
- collins
- colussy-estes
- comics
- compestine
- compton
- computer
- concerts
- concrete poem
- conferences
- conrad
- consulting
- contests
- conway
- cook
- cooking
- cooney
- cooper
- cooper. park
- cope
- corace
- corcoran
- corey
- cornish
- correspondence
- costuming
- couplets
- coville
- craig
- crane
- crapsey
- crapsey bio
- creativity
- creech
- crimi
- crisler
- critics
- critique group
- critiques
- cronin
- crooker
- crutcher
- cumberbatch
- cummings
- cybils
- dabija
- dahl
- dale
- dalton
- dancers
- daniels
- danielson
- dante
- dare to dream
- darfur
- datlow
- davidson
- davies
- davis
- de groot
- de regniers
- deaths
- deedy
- degroot
- demarest
- dempsey
- denenberg
- denise
- deroche
- derry
- desimone
- dicamillo
- dickens
- dickinson
- dimuzio
- dionne
- disaster relief
- diversions
- divorce
- dodd
- dodge
- dolamore
- donaldson
- donne
- donnelly
- dotlich
- double dactyls
- down
- downham
- downsizing
- dowson
- dr. who
- drama
- dreams
- dryden
- duffy
- dufresne
- dwts
- dyckman
- dyer
- dylan
- earth day
- easy readers
- ebert
- economy
- edel
- edens
- edgar
- edge
- edge of forest
- edge of the forest
- edwards
- egan
- eisenhower
- ekphrasis
- elections
- elf
- elgar
- eliot
- elizabethan poets
- ellwand
- elwes
- emerson
- emma
- end-stop
- endings
- engel
- enjambment
- envelope rhyme
- ephron
- epigram
- equinox
- erskine
- essays
- etheree
- ettlinger
- etymology
- eulberg
- evans
- events
- expectations
- fairy tales
- fallon
- family
- famous authors
- fantasy
- farmer's markets
- fatigue
- faudem
- faulkner
- favorites
- fearnley
- fencing
- feng shui
- ferber
- ferleger
- ferrell
- ferris
- fey
- fforde
- fib
- fibromyalgia
- fiction
- fidel
- field
- filing
- filk
- fineman
- fireman
- first second
- fishbone
- fisher
- flanagan
- flaubert
- fleischman
- fletcher
- floca
- flood
- florence
- florian
- foley
- food
- fordyce
- form
- forms
- fortunato
- foster
- fotheringham
- found poems
- fourteeners
- fowler
- franco
- frank
- franklin
- fraser
- frazee
- frazier
- free verse
- freedman
- french poetry
- freud
- friday five
- friends
- frith
- frogs
- frost
- fry
- funke
- furness
- gaiman
- gallagher
- gardner
- garrett
- garrick
- garton
- gbbc
- george
- german poems
- gerstein
- gibbs
- gibran
- gibson
- gidwitz
- gift ideas
- gilbert
- gilchrist
- gilpin
- giovanni
- glbtq
- glück
- gnomes
- goals
- godwin
- goldberg
- goldman
- gonzalez
- good life
- gordon
- graef
- grahame
- grammar
- grandfather
- grandits
- graphic novels
- gratton
- gratz
- gray
- greece
- green
- greenberg
- greenburg
- greenfield
- gregor
- grey
- griffiths
- grimes
- grimly
- griswold
- grodin
- grown-up books
- gruen
- gudeon
- guest
- guest posts
- guibert
- guy fawkes day
- guys lit wire
- hafiz
- haiku
- hair
- hale
- hall
- halpin
- hamilton
- hamlet
- handel
- handler
- hardy
- harjo
- harley
- harper
- harrison
- harry potter
- harter
- haslitt
- hat full of sky
- hatke
- haughton
- headley
- health
- heaney
- heine
- helvetius
- hemphill
- hendecasyllabics
- henkes
- henry v
- henson
- hernandez
- herrick
- herzog
- heylin
- hiatt
- hicks
- high
- highlights
- hill
- hillenbrand
- hip hop
- hipp
- historical fiction
- history
- hobbie
- holidays
- holmes
- holst
- holt
- home
- hooper
- hopkins
- horoscopes
- horror
- housekeeping
- housman
- hovey
- howard
- howells
- hp
- huang
- hubbard
- hubby
- hughes
- human rights
- humor
- iambic pentameter
- ibatoulline
- icon
- ideas
- illustration
- imagism
- in memoriam
- ingman
- inspiration
- insults
- interviews
- iran
- irving
- issa
- issues in publishing
- izzard
- jack's mannequin
- jackson
- jacobsen
- jacques
- jae-jones
- jaffe
- james
- jane austen society
- jane project
- janeczko
- janovitz
- japanese forms
- jasna
- jay
- jazz
- jefferson
- jeffrey
- jenkins
- jepson
- jimenez
- jini
- jobs
- john
- johnson
- johnston
- jollett
- jones
- jonson
- jordan
- journaling
- julius caesar
- kane
- karim
- karr
- katz
- keats
- keillor
- keiser
- kell
- kelley
- kennedy
- kenning
- kephart
- kerley
- key
- khayyám
- kick in the head
- kid mag writers
- kidlit authors club
- kidlitosphere
- kids
- kiernan
- kijo
- kilmer
- king
- king lear
- kingsley
- kirkup
- kismet
- kissing scenes
- kiva
- klages
- klassen
- klein
- kleon
- kleypas
- kling
- klinkenborg
- kluger
- knowles
- koertge
- kokie
- kolar
- komachi
- konigsburg
- kooser
- kowal
- kreider
- kumin
- kunzru
- kwansaba
- l'engle
- lafevers
- lamb
- lamott
- lancaster
- landers
- landy
- lang
- lankes
- laptop
- larbalestier
- larios
- law
- lawn
- lawrence
- layden
- lazar
- lazarus
- lear
- lee
- lefrak
- lehrer
- leigh hunt
- leijten
- leonard
- lessing
- letters
- levine
- levithan
- levy
- lewis
- lezotte
- lgbtq
- libraries
- library lovin' challenge
- limerick
- limericks
- line breaks
- linkin park
- links
- lippincott
- lippman
- lists
- literary criticism
- lithgow
- littman
- livingston
- lloyd
- lockward
- london
- long
- longfellow
- lopez
- lord
- lotr
- louisville
- love's labour's lost
- lovecraft
- lovett
- lowell
- lowry
- lubar
- lunge-larsen
- m
- maass
- macalister
- macbeth
- macfadyen
- machlachlan
- mack
- mackenzie
- mackler
- maclachlan
- maclean
- macneice
- mad poets
- maddox
- madigan
- magazines
- magoon
- maguire
- malamud
- manders
- manga
- manning
- mansfield park
- mantchev
- march madness
- marchetta
- marciuliano
- marcus
- marketing
- markle
- marlowe
- marrone
- marsalis
- marsden
- marshall
- martian poetry
- martin
- marvell
- mary lee
- masefield
- mason
- masse
- mayes
- mccartney
- mccauley
- mccrae
- mccully
- mccutcheon
- mcentyre
- mcghee
- mckay
- mckennitt
- mckinley
- mckissack
- mcphaden
- measure for measure
- mecum
- meditation
- meirelles
- meltzer
- melusine
- melville
- memes
- memory
- menchin
- mendelssohn
- merwin
- messner
- metafiction
- meyer
- michael
- michalak
- michelson
- microfinance
- middle ages
- mill
- millay
- millburn
- miller
- milne
- milosz
- milton
- minchilli
- mindfulness
- miranda
- miscellaneous
- mitchell
- mitton
- moffatt
- mojo
- monday
- monescillo
- monometer
- montague
- mooney
- moore
- moranville
- morgan
- moriarty
- morley
- mortensen
- motivation
- mott
- mountain magic
- movies
- moyes
- msgraw
- much ado about nothing
- mullan
- mummy
- munro
- murdock
- murphy
- murrow
- muse
- museums
- music
- mutford
- muth
- mutén
- myers
- myles
- mystery
- naiyomah
- narrative poems
- nascimbene
- nast
- national geographic
- national poetry month
- nature
- ncbla
- necarsulmer
- nelson
- nerdfighters
- neruda
- nesbitt
- neubauer
- neville
- nevius
- new project
- newman
- news
- nichols
- niedt
- nimmo
- no news
- nonce poems
- nonfiction
- nonfiction monday
- nonsense poems
- norris
- northanger abbey
- norton
- notebooks
- novels
- noyes
- npr
- nursery rhymes
- nye
- o'brien
- o'connor
- o'hanlon
- o'hora
- obama
- ochester
- oconnor
- ode
- office supplies
- ogden nash
- oh bother
- old spice guy
- oldroyd
- olin
- oliver
- olympics
- one-shot world tour
- online shopping
- onomatopoeia
- ophelia
- oresick
- organization
- original music
- original poems
- orr
- orred
- oshins
- othello
- ottava rima
- overlooked books
- owen
- pain
- panels
- panera
- pantoum
- papp
- paratore
- park
- parker
- parker-rees
- parme
- parody
- parody poems
- parra
- paschkis
- paterson
- patriquin
- patron
- paul
- pausch
- peace project
- peck
- percy
- perelman
- perkins
- perry
- persuasion
- petrarch
- pets
- pfeffer
- pham
- phelan
- phillips
- piboidmo
- picture book dummies
- picture books
- picturesque
- pierce
- piercy
- pinkwater
- pinsky
- pippin
- planning
- plath
- playlists
- plays
- plum
- poe
- poem prompts
- poems
- poet laureate
- poetic forms
- poetry
- poetry anthologies
- poetry collections
- poetry friday
- poetry readings
- poetry seven
- poetry writing
- point of view
- politics
- poll
- pop-up books
- pope
- porter
- portis
- portraits
- pound
- pownall
- pratchett
- pre-raphaelite
- prelutsky
- pride and prejudice
- princess bride
- pritts
- process
- professional updates
- prose poems
- prum
- prévert
- publicity
- pullman
- pushkin
- qualls
- quatrains
- quilting
- quindlen
- quinlan
- quinn
- quiz
- quotes
- rabiner
- raccontino
- radcliffe
- raleigh
- ramsdell
- rants
- rappaport
- raschka
- rattigan
- re-reading
- reading
- reading aloud
- reading poetry
- reaves
- recipe
- recipes
- reforemo
- regency era
- reinhart
- rejection
- rejections
- religion
- renga
- renier
- renku
- rennison
- research
- resolutions
- retreats
- reviews
- revision
- revisions
- rex
- rheumatoid arthritis
- rhimes
- rhyme
- rhymed couplets
- richard ii
- richard iii
- richards
- richardson
- rickman
- riddle poem
- riley
- rilke
- riordan
- robert's snow
- roberts
- rocco
- rockefeller
- roethke
- rogalski
- rogers
- rohmann
- romagna
- romance
- romance novels
- romeo and juliet
- rondeau
- roosevelt
- rose poem
- rosen
- rosenthal
- rossetti
- rothfuss
- roundup
- rourke
- rowling
- ruba'i
- ruble
- ruby
- ruddell
- rugrats
- rumford
- rushdie
- russell
- rwa
- ryan
- rückert
- s
- sabuda
- sadness
- sage
- saint francis
- saint-exupéry
- salas
- saltzberg
- sandburg
- santat
- sauer
- saunders
- sayers
- sbbt
- scanlon
- scbwi
- schachner
- scheffler
- schindler
- schmidt
- schneiderman
- school
- school visits
- schools
- schreiber
- schroeder
- schumann
- schwalbe
- schwartz
- sci-fi
- science
- scieszka
- scott
- scottoline
- scrumptious sunday
- seale
- seder
- sedoka
- sedona
- seibold
- self
- self-care
- selfors
- selzer
- selznick
- senryu
- sense and sensibility
- series
- sestinas
- seuss
- seven things
- sewing
- sexton
- sfar
- shabazz
- shadmi
- shaffer
- shakespeare
- shakespeare poems
- shannon
- shapiro
- sharpe
- shaw
- shelley
- sherman
- shevett
- shopping
- shore
- short stories
- sibley
- sidman
- siegel
- sieruta
- sijo
- silverman
- silverstein
- sim
- simile
- simmons
- simon
- simpson
- singer
- singleton
- sis
- siskind
- sitwell
- six things
- skelton
- slade
- slant rhyme
- slatts
- slings and arrows
- smart
- smith
- snicket
- snow
- snyder
- so
- softball
- somonka
- song parodies
- songs
- sonnenblick
- sonnenmair
- sonnets
- sooper sekrit project
- sorenson
- sound of music
- sources
- southam
- southey
- speaking
- spenser
- spenserian stanza
- spielberg
- spinelli
- sports
- sprung rhythm
- stace
- staniszewski
- stauffacher
- steampunk
- steampunk shakespeare
- stein
- steptoe
- stevens
- stevenson
- stewart
- stiefvater
- sting
- stohr-hunt
- stress
- strunk
- stutzman
- submissions
- suffrage project
- summer reading
- sutherland
- sutter
- sweet
- swift
- swinburne
- symonds
- szymborska
- tai chi
- taming of the shrew
- tamura
- tan
- tanka
- tasso
- tavares
- taxes
- tea
- teaching
- teasdale
- teen reading
- teens
- television
- tennant
- tennyson
- terza rima
- thankful thursday
- thanksgiving
- tharp
- thayer
- the fray
- the kindness of strangers
- the tempest
- the universe comes knocking
- theatre
- theobald
- thomas
- thomson
- thoreau
- thought of the day
- thoughts
- thurber
- thurman
- tibolt
- timmins
- tips
- tolkien
- top ten
- toussaint
- townley
- translation
- travel
- trent
- trillin
- triolet
- tritina
- trochee
- trondheim
- trope
- tullet
- turner
- tv
- twain
- twelfth night
- two gentleman of verona
- u2
- under the radar
- underpants
- urban
- urban fantasy
- vacation
- valentines
- valery
- van allsburg
- van den heuvel
- van dyke
- van lieshout
- van wassenhove
- vandenburg
- vanderwater
- vardell
- varon
- vecchione
- verant
- verdugo
- verlaine
- vernick
- verse novels
- vess
- veterans
- viau
- victorian
- villanelle
- vonnegut
- wagner-martin
- wainwright
- waka
- walken
- wally
- war poems
- warren
- watson
- watts
- wbbt
- weather
- weatherford
- website
- wee free men
- weezer
- weinstein
- weird news
- well-filling
- wells
- westerfeld
- what about bob?
- whedon
- white
- whitman
- whittemore
- wiesner
- wilbur
- wilcox
- wilde
- wiliamson
- willems
- williams
- willig
- willis
- wilsdorf
- winchester
- wine
- winfrey
- winik
- winter
- winter's tale
- wintersmith
- wise
- wittenstein
- wittlinger
- wizenberg
- woe
- wolfe
- wolff
- women's history month
- wong
- woodson
- woolf
- wordsworth
- work
- worth
- writers
- writers' houses
- writing
- writing credits
- writing group
- writing news
- writing tips
- wyss
- ya
- ya romance project
- yaccarino
- yeats
- yee
- yoda
- yolen
- young
- youtube
- zadoff
- zagarenski
- zahrad
- zarr
- zeises
- ziegler
- zimmer
- zukav
- zusak
Powered by LiveJournal.com
Comments