Dancing on the Hill-tops Lyrics
Three verses about a girl called Alice. She dances on hill-tops, sings in valleys, plays with lambs and picks posies. The last verse asks what if her father's cottage turned into a palace, and answers that she would be none the happier.
Dancing on the Hill-tops
Dancing on the hill-tops,
Singing in the valleys,
Laughing with the echoes,
Merry little Alice.
Playing games with lambkins
In the flowering valleys,
Gathering pretty posies,
Helpful little Alice.
If her father's cottage
Turned into a palace,
And he owned the hill-tops
And the flowering valleys,
She'd be none the happier,
Happy little Alice.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/dancing-on-the-hill-tops/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Christina Rossetti
- Tune
- Light and dancing in the first two verses, slower and thoughtful in the last
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Dancing on the hill-tops | Spin slowly with your arms out. |
| Laughing with the echoes | Cup a hand behind your ear and laugh, then wait as if for an echo. |
| Gathering pretty posies | Bend down and pick pretend flowers, one at a time. |
What Does Dancing on the Hill-tops Mean?
The poem is a portrait of a happy child named Alice. Each of the first two verses lists what she does, and each ends with a name tag: Merry little Alice, Helpful little Alice. She dances, sings and laughs back at the echoes, the sounds that bounce back from hillsides. She plays games with lambkins, young lambs, and gathers posies, which are small bunches of flowers.
The third verse asks a what-if. Suppose her father's cottage, a small simple house, turned into a palace, and he owned the hill-tops and the valleys where she plays. The answer is that she would be "none the happier", and the verse ends with a third name tag, Happy little Alice. The poem says that Alice's happiness comes from the dancing, singing and helping, not from owning anything.
It is a quiet thing to talk over with a child: what makes a day happy, and could a bigger house or more toys add to it? The three tags, Merry, Helpful and Happy, are also a short list to learn by heart.
History and Origin
Rossetti uses the girl's name as the last line of every verse, with a new word in front of it each time. The poem was published in 1872 in Sing-Song.
The idea that a simple home can be a happy one is told here through one small girl's day rather than as a lesson.
Learning Activities
- Three tags: give each child a tag, such as Merry, Helpful or Happy, and let them say one thing they did that fits it.
- Echo game: call a word across a room or down a hall and wait for the echo, then say 'laughing with the echoes'.
- Posy making: gather a few flowers or leaves, or make paper ones, into a small bunch.
- Happy list: ask what made today happy, and see how many answers are things you can hold.