As I Walked by Myself Lyrics
Everyone talks to themselves sometimes. In this old rhyme, the speaker goes for a walk and has a whole conversation with no one but themselves.
As I Walked by Myself
As I walked by myself,
And talked to myself,
Myself said unto me,
Look to thyself,
Take care of thyself,
For nobody cares for thee.
I answered myself,
And said to myself,
In the self-same repartee,
Look to thyself,
Or not look to thyself,
The self-same thing will be.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/as-i-walked-by-myself/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 5 to 10 years
What Does As I Walked by Myself Mean?
The speaker's inner voice gives advice: look after yourself, because nobody else will. In the second verse the speaker answers back, saying whether you look after yourself or not, the result will be the same. Repartee means a quick, clever reply, and thyself is old English for yourself.
History and Origin
The rhyme is printed in Andrew Lang's The Nursery Rhyme Book (1897), and it was well known long before that. Its playful use of "myself" over and over makes it a favorite for practicing reading aloud, and its message is gentler than it first sounds.
Learning Activities
- Inner voice: talk about the kind things we can say to ourselves when things are hard.
- Two voices: read the first verse in one voice and the answer in another.
- Count the selves: how many times does self appear?