In the sand, in the sun,
Lived an old mother toad
And her little toadie, one;
"Wink!" said the mother,
"I wink," said the one,
So she winked and she blinked
In the sand, in the sun.
Over in the meadow
Where the stream runs blue,
Lived an old mother fish
And her little fishes, two;
"Swim!" said the mother,
"We swim," said the two,
So they swam and they leapt
Where the stream runs blue.
Over in the meadow
In a hole in a tree,
Lived a mother bluebird
And her little birdies, three;
"Sing!" said the mother,
"We sing," said the three,
So they sang and were glad
In the hole in the tree.
Over in the meadow
In the reeds on the shore,
Lived a mother muskrat
And her little ratties, four;
"Dive!" said the mother,
"We dive," said the four,
So they dived and they burrowed
In the reeds on the shore.
Over in the meadow
In a snug bee-hive,
Lived a mother honey-bee
And her little honeys, five;
"Buzz!" said the mother,
"We buzz," said the five,
So they buzzed and they hummed
In the snug bee-hive.
Over in the meadow
In a nest built of sticks,
Lived a black mother crow
And her little crows, six;
"Caw!" said the mother,
"We caw," said the six,
So they cawed and they called
In their nest built of sticks.
Over in the meadow
Where the grass is so even,
Lived a gay mother cricket
And her little crickets, seven;
"Chirp!" said the mother,
"We chirp," said the seven,
So they chirped cheery notes
In the grass green and even.
Over in the meadow
By the old mossy gate,
Lived a brown mother lizard
And her little lizards, eight;
"Bask!" said the mother
"We bask," said the eight,
So they basked in the sun
On the old mossy gate.
Over in the meadow
Where the clear pools shine,
Lived a green mother frog
And her little froggies, nine;
"Croak!" said the mother,
"We croak," said the nine,
So they croaked and they splashed
Where the clear pools shine.
Over in the meadow
In a sly little den,
Lived a gray mother spider
And her little spiders, ten;
"Spin!" said the mother,
"We spin," said the ten,
So they spun lace webs
In their sly little den.
Over in the meadow
In the soft summer even,
Lived a mother fire-fly
And her little flies, eleven;
"Shine!" said the mother,
"We shine," said th' eleven,
So they shone like stars
In the soft summer even.
Over in the meadow
Where the men dig and delve,
Lived a wise mother ant,
And her little anties, twelve;
"Toil!" said the mother,
"We toil," said the twelve,
So they toiled and were wise,
Where the men dig and delve.
-- Katherine Floyd-Dana, aka Olive A. Wadsworth (1835-1886)
