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Cover of The Farmer and the Raven

The Farmer and the Raven

Traditional

ages 2 to 5nursery rhymesread aloudabout 36 seconds aloud

A galloping rhyme with a spill in it: a farmer and his daughter come off their mare when a raven startles them mid-ride. The 'Bumpety, bumpety, bump!' refrain makes it a natural for a knee-ride, and lands the fall as comedy rather than calamity.

From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.

A farmer went trotting upon his gray mare,
    Bumpety, bumpety, bump!
With his daughter behind him so rosy and fair,
    Lumpety, lumpety, lump!

A raven cried croak! and they all tumbled down,
    Bumpety, bumpety, bump!
The mare broke her knees, and the farmer his crown,
    Lumpety, lumpety, lump!

The mischievous raven flew laughing away,
    Bumpety, bumpety, bump!
And vowed he would serve them the same the next day,
    Lumpety, lumpety lump!

Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition

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