The Gardener’s Song

This is the gardener’s song from Carroll’s Silvie and Bruno. In the story, it is spread throughout the entire text.

    • He thought he saw an Elephant,
    • That practised on a fife:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A letter from his wife.
    • “At length I realise”, he said,
    • “The bitterness of Life!”
    • He thought he saw a Buffalo
    • Upon the chimney-piece:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • His Sister’s Husband’s Niece.
    • “Unless you leave this house”, he said,
    • “I’ll send for the Police!”
    • He thought he saw a Rattlesnake
    • That questioned him in Greek:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • The Middle of Next Week.
    • “The one thing I regret”, he said,
    • “Is that it cannot speak!”
    • He thought he saw a Banker’s Clerk
    • Descending from the bus:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A Hippopotamus:
    • “If this should stay to dine”, he said,
    • “There wo’n’t be much for us!”
    • He thought he saw a Kangaroo
    • That worked a coffee-mill:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A Vegetable-Pill.
    • “Were I to swallow this”, he said,
    • “I should be very ill!”
    • He thought he saw a Coach-and-Four
    • That stood beside his bed:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A Bear without a Head.
    • “Poor thing,” he said, “poor silly thing!
    • It’s waiting to be fed!”
    • He thought he saw an Albatross
    • That fluttered round the lamp:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A Penny-Postage-Stamp.
    • “You’d best be getting home,” he said:
    • “The nights are very damp!”
    • He thought he saw a Garden-Door
    • That opened with a key:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A Double Rule of Three:
    • “And all its mystery”, he said,
    • “Is clear as day to me!”
    • He thought he saw an Argument
    • That proved he was the Pope:
    • He looked again, and found it was
    • A Bar of Mottled Soap.
    • “A fact so dread”, he faintly said,
    • “Extinguishes all hope!”