There Was A Little Man



There was a little man,
And he had a little gun,
And his bullets were made of lead, lead, lead;
He went to the brook
And saw a little duck,
And he shot it right through the head, head, head.





He carried it home
To his old wife Joan,
And bid her a fire for to make, make, make;
To roast the little duck
He had shot in the brook,
And he'd go and fetch her the drake, drake, drake.

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

Good King Arthur

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

Oranges And Lemons

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

Little Bo-Peep

Leonard Brooke, Simple Poetry

Humpty Dumpty

Leonard Brooke, 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.

There Was A Man



There Was A Man.


                There was a man, and he had nought,
                    And robbers came to rob him;



                He crept up to the chimney-pot,





                And then they could not find him;



                He ran fourteen miles in fifteen days,
                    And never looked behind him.

Leonard Brooke

Goosey, Goosey Gander




Goosey, Goosey Gander.


                Goosey, Goosey Gander,
                Where shall I wander?



                Upstairs, downstairs,
                And in my lady's chamber.



                There I met an old man
                    That would not say his prayers:
                I took him by the left leg,
                    And threw him downstairs.

Leonard Brooke

Nursery Rhyme. LIV. Tales.

    There was a little man,
    And he had a little gun,
    And he went to the brook,
    And he shot a little rook;
    And he took it home
    To his old wife Joan,
    And told her to make up a fire,
    While he went back,
    To fetch the little drake;
    But when he got there,
    The drake was fled for fear,
    And like an old novice,
    He turn'd back again.

Unknown

Little Bo-Peep


Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
And bring their tails behind them.



Little Bo-Peep fell fast asleep,
And dreamt she heard them bleating;
But when she awoke, she found it a joke,
For they were still a-fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook,
Determined for to find them;
She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,
For they'd left all their tails behind 'em.

Leonard Brooke

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

Robin Hood's Flight

Robin Hood's mother, these twelve years now,
Has been gone from her earthly home;
And Robin has paid, he scarce knew how,
A sum for a noble tomb.

The church-yard lies on a woody hill,
But open to sun and air:
It seems as if the heaven still
Were looking and smiling there.

Often when Robin looked that way,
He looked through a sweet thin tear;
But he looked in a different manner, they say,
Towards the Abbey of Vere.

He cared not for its ill-got wealth,
He felt not for his pride;
He had youth, and strength, and health,
And enough for one beside.

But he thought of his gentle mother's cheek
How it sunk away,
And how she used to grow more weak
And weary every day;

And how, when trying a hymn, her voice
At evenin...

James Henry Leigh Hunt