Mythology & Folklore

There was a man and he was mad

by Anonymous (English nursery rhymes) traditional; recorded 17th–19th century

From The Nursery Rhymes of England, collected by J. O. Halliwell (London: Warne; first ed. 1842; this printing 1886)

Mythology & Folklore

There was a man and he was mad,
And he jump'd into a pea-swad;
The pea-swad was over-full,
So he jump'd into a roaring bull;
The roaring bull was over-fat,
So he jump'd into a gentleman's hat;
The gentleman's hat was over-fine,
So he jump'd into a bottle of wine;
The bottle of wine was over-dear,
So he jump'd into a bottle of beer;
The bottle of beer was over-thick,
So he jump'd into a club-stick;
The club-stick was over-narrow,
So he jump'd into a wheel-barrow;
The wheel-barrow began to crack,
So he jump'd on to a hay-stack;
The hay-stack began to blaze,
So he did nothing but cough and sneeze!

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Halliwell's class: Paradoxes.

MLA

Anonymous (English nursery rhymes). “There was a man and he was mad.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-english-nursery-rhymes/372/.

Chicago

Anonymous (English nursery rhymes). “There was a man and he was mad.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-english-nursery-rhymes/372/.

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