A counting rhyme in which a hare is caught, admired, and let go again, tallying up to ten and back. Gentle, rhythmic, and kind to the hare.
A counting chant, one beat per number.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
I caught a hare alive;
6, 7, 8, 9, 10!
I let her go again.
How it's usually said today
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Once I caught a fish alive,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
Then I let it go again.
Traditional rhymes have no single fixed text. The main version on this page is as printed in our source edition; this one is the wording most people say today.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition