Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE LITTLE WOMAN AND THE PEDLAR by ANONYMOUS

First Line: THERE WAS A LITTLE WOMAN / AS I HAVE HEARD TELL
Last Line: THIS IS NONE OF I!

THERE was a little woman,
As I have heard tell,
She went to market
Her eggs for to sell;
She went to market
All on a market day,
And she fell asleep
On the king's highway.

There came by a pedlar,
His name was Stout,
He cut her petticoats
All round about;
He cut her petticoats
Up to her knees;
Which made the little woman
To shiver and sneeze.

When this little woman
Began to awake,
She began to shiver,
And she began to shake;
She began to shake,
And she began to cry,
Lawk a mercy on me,
This is none of I!

But if this be I,
As I do hope it be,
I have a little dog at home
And he knows me;
If it be I,
He'll wag his little tail,
And if it be not I
He'll loudly bark and wail!

Home went the little woman
All in the dark,
Up starts the little dog,
And he began to bark;
He began to bark,
And she began to cry,
Lawk a mercy on me,
This is none of I!





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