Ninny nanny netticoat

Ninny nanny netticoat,
In a white petticoat,
        With a red nose,--
The longer she stands,
        The shorter she grows.

Helen Beatrix Potter

Helen Beatrix Potter was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as those in 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit.' Born in 1866, she grew up in a wealthy Unitarian family. Potter's works have had a profound impact on children’s literature. Besides writing, she was also an avid conservationist and used proceeds from her books to preserve the Lake District's natural beauty. She passed away in 1943.

Helen Beatrix Potter

Cecily Parsley

Helen Beatrix Potter, Simple Poetry

Tom Tinker's dog

Helen Beatrix Potter, Simple Poetry

Goosey, goosey, gander,

Helen Beatrix Potter, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Nursery Rhyme. CCIX. Riddles.

        [A candle.]

    Little Nancy Etticoat,
    In a white petticoat,
    And a red nose;
    The longer she stands,
    The shorter she grows.

Unknown

Pussy-cat

Pussy-cat sits by the fire;
    How should she be fair?
In walks the little dog,
    Says "Pussy! are you there?"

"How do you do, Mistress Pussy?
    Mistress Pussy, how do you do?"
"I thank you kindly, little dog,
    I fare as well as you!"

Helen Beatrix Potter

This pig

This pig went to market;
    This pig stayed at home;

This pig had a bit of meat;

And this pig had none;

This little pig cried
        Wee! wee! wee!
I can't find my way home.

Helen Beatrix Potter

Nursery Rhyme. DXXXVI. Natural History.

        Pussy cat Mole,
        Jump'd over a coal,
        And in her best petticoat burnt a great hole.
    Poor pussy's weeping, she'll have no more milk,
    Until her best petticoat's mended with silk.

Unknown

Little Phillis.

I am a very little girl,
I think that I've turned two;
And if you'd like to know my name
I'd like to tell it you.

They always call me Baby,
But Phillis is my name.
No no one ever gave it me,
I think it only came.

I've got a pretty tulip
In my little flower-bed;
If you would like I'll give it you
It's yellow, striped with red.

I've got a little kitten, but
I can't give that away,
She likes to play with me so much;
She's gone to sleep to-day.

And I've got a nice new dolly,
Shall I fetch her out to you?
She's got such pretty shoes on,
And her bonnet's trimmed with blue.

You'd like to take her home with you?
Oh, no, she mustn't go;
Good-bye I want to run now,
You walk along so slow.

Kate Greenaway

Nursery Rhyme. LXXII. Tales.

    When I was a little girl, about seven years old,
    I hadn't got a petticoat, to cover me from the cold;
    So I went into Darlington, that pretty little town,
    And there I bought a petticoat, a cloak, and a gown.
    I went into the woods and built me a kirk,
    And all the birds of the air, they helped me to work;
    The hawk with his long claws pulled down the stone,
    The dove, with her rough bill, brought me them home;
    The parrot was the clergyman, the peacock was the clerk,
    The bullfinch play'd the organ, and we made merry work.

Unknown