The Lion And The Unicorn


The Lion And The Unicorn.


                The Lion and the Unicorn
                    Were fighting for the Crown;
                The Lion beat the Unicorn
                    All round about the town.





                Some gave them white bread,
                    And some gave them brown;
                Some gave them plum-cake,
                    And sent them out of town.

Leonard Brooke

Leonard Leslie Brooke was a British artist and writer, born on September 24, 1862. He is best known for his illustrations for children's books, including classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales such as 'Johnny Crow's Garden' and 'The Golden Goose Book.' His work brought a distinctive elegance and charm to the illustration of children's literature. In addition to his writing, his illustrations have been featured in works by other authors as well. He passed away on May 2, 1940.

Leonard Brooke

The Man In The Moon

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

Ring O' Roses

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

Goosey, Goosey Gander

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

Humpty Dumpty

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

English

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Nursery Rhyme. LVIII. Tales.

    The lion and the unicorn
        Were fighting for the crown;
    The lion beat the unicorn
        All round about the town.
    Some gave them white bread,
        And some gave them brown;
    Some gave them plum-cake,
        And sent them out of town.

Unknown

The Lion Beaten By The Man.

^[1]

A picture once was shown,
In which one man, alone,
Upon the ground had thrown
A lion fully grown.
Much gloried at the sight the rabble.
A lion thus rebuked their babble: -
'That you have got the victory there,
There is no contradiction.
But, gentles, possibly you are
The dupes of easy fiction:
Had we the art of making pictures,
Perhaps our champion had beat yours!'

Jean de La Fontaine

Good King Arthur



Good King Arthur.


When good king Arthur ruled this land,
He was a goodly king;
He stole three pecks of barley-meal,
To make a bag-pudding.

A bag-pudding the king did make,
And stuffed it well with plums:
And in it put great lumps of fat,
As big as my two thumbs.










The king and queen did eat thereof,
And noblemen beside;
And what they could not eat that night,
The queen next morning fried.

Leonard Brooke

The Lion Going To War.

^[1]

The lion had an enterprise in hand;
Held a war-council, sent his provost-marshal,
And gave the animals a call impartial -
Each, in his way, to serve his high command.
The elephant should carry on his back
The tools of war, the mighty public pack,
And fight in elephantine way and form;
The bear should hold himself prepared to storm;
The fox all secret stratagems should fix;
The monkey should amuse the foe by tricks.
'Dismiss,' said one, 'the blockhead asses,
And hares, too cowardly and fleet.'
'No,' said the king; 'I use all classes;
Without their aid my force were incomplete.
The ass shall be our trumpeter, to scare
Our enemy. And then the nimble hare
Our royal bulletins shall homeward bear.'

A monarch provident and wise

Jean de La Fontaine

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep





Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.

                Baa, baa, Black Sheep,
                    Have you any wool?
                Yes, marry, have I,
                    Three bags full:



                One for my Master,
                    And one for my Dame,
                And one for the little boy
                    That lives in the lane!

Leonard Brooke

The Animals Sending Tribute To Alexander.

^[1]

A fable flourished with antiquity
Whose meaning I could never clearly see.
Kind reader, draw the moral if you're able:
I give you here the naked fable.
Fame having bruited that a great commander,
A son of Jove, a certain Alexander,
Resolved to leave nought free on this our ball,
Had to his footstool gravely summon'd all
Men, quadrupeds, and nullipeds, together
With all the bird-republics, every feather, -
The goddess of the hundred mouths, I say,
Thus having spread dismay,
By widely publishing abroad
This mandate of the demigod,
The animals, and all that do obey
Their appetite alone, mistrusted now
That to another sceptre they must bow.
Far in the desert met their various races,
All gathering from their hiding-places.
D...

Jean de La Fontaine