Three short rhymes in one: Hector Protector, sent to the Queen and sent straight back again; Billy and Polly planning a game on the green; and the familiar cradle song 'Rock-a-bye Baby'. The mix of dialogue and lullaby gives a reader plenty to play with in voice and pace.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
Hector Protector was dressed all in green;
Hector Protector was sent to the Queen.
The Queen did not like him,
No more did the King;
So Hector Protector was sent back again.
BILLY, BILLY
"Billy, Billy, come and play,
While the sun shines bright as day."
"Yes, my Polly, so I will,
For I love to please you still."
"Billy, Billy, have you seen
Sam and Betsy on the green?"
"Yes, my Poll, I saw them pass,
Skipping o'er the new-mown grass."
"Billy, Billy, come along,
And I will sing a pretty song."
ROCK-A-BYE, BABY
Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green;
Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen;
And Betty's a lady, and wears a gold ring;
And Johnny's a drummer, and drums for the king.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition