The King-Fisher Song

King Fisher courted Lady Bird——
Sing Beans, sing Bones, sing Butterflies!
“Find me my match,’ he said,
“With such a noble head——
With such a beard, as white as curd——
With such expressive eyes!’

“Yet pins have heads,’ said Lady Bird——
Sing Prunes, sing Prawns, sing Primrose-Hill!
“And, where you stick them in,
They stay, and thus a pin
Is very much to be preferred
To one that’s never still!’

“Oysters have beards,’ said Lady Bird——
Sing Flies, sing Frogs, sing Fiddle-strings!
“I love them, for I know
They never chatter so:
They would not say one single word——
Not if you crowned them Kings!’

“Needles have eyes,’ said Lady Bird——
Sing Cats, sing Corks, sing Cowslip-tea!
“And they are sharp—just what
Your Majesty is not:
So get you gone—’tis too absurd
To come a-courting me!’