# Sing-Song: Under the Ivy Bush - Source: Sing-Song (sing-song.gutenberg.org), Public domain, Christina Rossetti, pictures by Arthur Hughes, 1872, via Project Gutenberg - Reading level: Ages 4 to 6 - Subjects: Poems, Animals, Music - Topics: bush, head, mouse, sing, tell, tolling - Length: 308 words, about 2 min - Original: - Page: - Open in Sprouts: Under the ivy bush One sits sighing, And under the willow tree One sits crying:— ## Under the ivy bush Under the ivy bush Cease from your sighing, But under the willow tree Lie down a-dying. ## I am a King I am a King, Or an Emperor rather, I wear crown-imperial And prince’s-feather; Golden-rod is the sceptre I wield and wag, And a broad purple flag-flower Waves for my flag. ## Elder the pithy Elder the pithy With old-man and sage, These are my councillors Green in old age; Lords-and-ladies in silence Stand round me and wait, While gay ragged-robin Makes bows at my gate. ## There is one that has a head without an eye There is one that has a head without an eye, And there’s one that has an eye without a head: You may find the answer if you try; And when all is said, Half the answer hangs upon a thread! ## If a mouse could fly If a mouse could fly, Or if a crow could swim, Or if a sprat could walk and talk, I’d like to be like him. If a mouse could fly, He might fly away; Or if a crow could swim, It might turn him grey; Or if a sprat could walk and talk, What would he find to say? ## Sing me a song— Sing me a song— What shall I sing?— Three merry sisters Dancing in a ring, Light and fleet upon their feet As birds upon the wing. ## Tell me a tale— Tell me a tale— What shall I tell?— Two mournful sisters, And a tolling knell, Tolling ding and tolling dong, Ding dong bell. ## The lily has an air The lily has an air, And the snowdrop a grace, And the sweetpea a way, And the heartsease a face,— Yet there’s nothing like the rose When she blows. ## Picture credits - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain () - Arthur Hughes, Public domain ()