The hippo from the banks of Nile,
How wide and winning is the smile
With which he does his simple best
In hippo language to suggest
The thought that stirs his inmost mind —
'It's time, I think, I supped or dined!'
And meals for hippopotami
Are weighty things, you can't deny;
For when they're babies you must buy 'em
Full thirty quarts of milk per diem,
And when they're older, every day
A baby hippo can enjoy
His bath like any human boy,
And splash and splash like Billy-o!
He's not — despite his name, of course —
The least bit like a river horse,
But much more like a river pig,
He is a harmless beast, and though
He is not beautiful, we know,
No doubt his mother thinks him so!
Notes
From ALL THE OTHER CHILDREN, by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Methuen & Co., London, UK, © 1933, p. 56.
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master hippo
From guest debra22deats (contact)
at last, a fun piece for a 9 year-old, heralding from 1933, what?! Even more fun to see Miss Cicely comment on the "beast being harmless", for - as an African - I surely know that this is not the case, especially when his Mum's about! Awesomely difficult to find pithy and/or humorous verse for the young 'uns to sink their teeth into, 12 to 20-odd lines long... -
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To guest debra22deats
I'm glad you liked this CFS poem as she is my favourite poet. However she is not exactly famous for her children's verses.
Why not have a look at some by Roald Dahl http://oldpoetry.com/oauthor/show/Roald_Dahl
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