If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid— And we’d get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.
We went to all the places which a beetle might be near, And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear, And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout: “A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!” It was Alexander Beetle I’m as certain as can be And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be ME,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say: “I’m very, very sorry that I tried to run away.” And Nanny’s very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did, And she’s writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid. So Nan and Me are friends, because it’s difficult to catch An excited Alexander you’ve mistaken for a match.
The Emperor’s Rhyme
The King of Peru (Who was Emperor too) Had a sort of a rhyme Which was useful to know,
If he felt very shy When a stranger came by, Or they asked him the time When his watch didn’t go; Or supposing he fell (By mistake) down a well,
