A Song For Two Children

Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)



'Make a song, father, a new little song,
All for Jenny and Nancy.'
Balow lalow or Hey derry down,
Or else what might you fancy?

Is there any song sweet enough
For Nancy and for Jenny?
Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
'Indeed I know not any.'

'I've counted the miles to Babylon,
I've flown the earth like a bird,
I've ridden cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
But no such song have I heard.'

'Some speak of Alexander,
And some of Hercules,
But where are there any like Nancy and Jenny,
Where are there any like these?'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

30 sec read
72

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA XABA XCXC XDAD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 504
Words 102
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, scholar/translator/writer of antiquity specializing in Classical Greece and Rome, novelist and soldier in World War One. more…

All Robert Graves poems | Robert Graves Books

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