A Strange Wild Song
By Lewis Carroll
He thought he saw an Elephant
That practiced on a fife:
He looked again, and found it was
A letter from his wife.
At length I realize, he said,
The bitterness of life!
He thought he saw a Buffalo
Upon the chimney-piece:
He looked again, and found it was
His Sisters Husbands Niece.
Unless you leave this house, he said,
Ill 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 Bankers Clerk
Descending from the bus:
He looked again, and found it was
A Hippopotamus.
If this should stay to dine, he said,
There wont 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!
Its waiting to be fed!