Ii

There was a Little Boy, with two little eyes, And he had a little head that was just the proper size, And two little arms, and two little hands; On two little legs this Little Boy he stands.

Now, this Little Boy would now and then be cross Because that he could only be the very thing he was; He wanted to be this, and then he wanted to be that; His head was full of wishes underneath his little hat!

“I wish I was a drummer to beat a kettledrum, I wish I was a giant to say Fee-fo-fi-faw-fum; I wish I was a captain to go sailing in a ship; I wish I was a huntsman to crack a nice whip.

I wish I was a horse to go sixty miles an hour; I wish I was the man that lives up in the lighthouse tower; I wish I was a sea-gull with two long wings; I wish I was a traveller to see all sorts of things.

I wish I was a carpenter; I wish I was a lord; I wish I was a soldier, with a pistol and a sword; I wish I was the man that goes up high in a balloon; I wish, I wish, I wish I could be something else, and soon!”

But all the wishing in the world is not a bit of use; That Little Boy this very day he stands in his own shoes; That Little Boy is still but little Master What-do-you-call, As much as if that Little Boy had never wished at all!

He eats his bread and butter, and he likes it very much; He grubs about, and bumps his head, and bowls his hoop, and such; And his father and his mother they say, “Thank the gracious powers, Those wishes cannot wish away that Little Boy of ours!”