Old Woman, Old Woman


There was an old woman tossed high in a basket
Seventeen times as high as the moon;
But where she was going no mortal could tell,
For under her arm she carried a broom.
"Old woman, old woman, old woman," said I, 
"Whither, oh whither, oh whither so high?"
"To sweep the cobwebs from the sky;
And I'll be with you by-and-by."
--Mother Goose  

Old Mother Goose

Old Mother Goose
When she wanted to wander
Would fly through the air
On a very fine gander.

Mother Goose had a house;
It stood in the wood
Where an owl at the door
As sentinel stood.

She had a son, Jack,
a plain looking lad,
'Twas not very good,
Nor yet very bad.

She sent him to market.
A live goose he bought.
"See, Mother?" he said,
"I have not been for naught."

Jack's goose and her Gander
Soon grew very fond.
They'd both eat together,
Or swim in the pond.

Then, one fine morning,
As I have been told,
Jack's goose had laid him
An egg of pure gold.

He ran to his mother,
The news for to tell.
She called him a good boy
And said it was well.

Jack sold his egg
To a merchant untrue
Who cheated him out
Of half of his due.

Then Jack went courting
A lady so gay
As fair as the lily
As sweet as the May.

The merchant and squire
Soon came at his back
and began to belabour
the sides of poor Jack.

Then old Mother Goose
That instant came in
And turned her son Jack
Into famed Harlequin.

She then with her wand
Touched the lady so fine
And turned her at once
Into sweet Columbine.

The gold egg in the sea
Was thrown away then
When an odd fish brought her
The egg back again.
                    
The merchant then vowed
The goose he would kill,
Resolving at once
His pockets to fill.

Jack's mother came in
And caught the goose soon
And mounting its back,
Flew up to the moon.


--"The Mother Goose Treasury" by Raymond Briggs