Ferry Me Across the Water Lyrics
Three turns of a conversation at a river: a child asks a boatman to take them over the water. The boatman says the ride costs a penny, the child has one, and in the third verse the boatman invites them aboard. Three verses of four lines, each with a question and an answer, make it easy to read as a small play for two voices.
Ferry Me Across the Water
"Ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"If you've a penny in your purse
I'll ferry you."
"I have a penny in my purse,
And my eyes are blue;
So ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do."
"Step into my ferry-boat,
Be they black or blue,
And for the penny in your purse
I'll ferry you."
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/ferry-me-across-the-water/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Christina Rossetti
- Tune
- Spoken as a dialogue: a polite, hopeful voice for the child and a brisk, friendly voice for the boatman
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Ferry me across the water | Reach one arm out in front, palm up, as if asking. |
| I have a penny in my purse | Hold up one finger, then tap a pretend purse at your side. |
| Step into my ferry-boat | Take one big step forward, as if stepping into a boat. |
What Does Ferry Me Across the Water Mean?
A ferry is a boat that carries people from one bank of a river to the other, and a boatman is the person who rows or steers it. The child speaks first and uses the word do as a polite push: "Do, boatman, do." The boatman answers that the fare is a penny. A penny was a small coin, and the child says that they have one.
The middle of the poem turns on a repeated word, blue. The child says "my eyes are blue", as if that were another reason to be allowed on. The boatman replies "be they black or blue", which means that the colour of the child's eyes makes no difference: what counts is the penny. It is a friendly joke on both sides.
Read aloud, the poem is a short play. The child and the boatman take turns, and the last verse mirrors the first: the boatman ends on the same words, "I'll ferry you", that closed the opening verse. Said aloud, do, blue and you all rhyme, so the sounds ring across the poem like the water.
History and Origin
Christina Rossetti was the sister of the painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and she wrote her nursery verses in short, speakable lines. Ferry Me Across the Water is a small scene in three turns, and it was printed in her Sing-Song as a poem of its own.
The old coin in the poem is the penny. Before decimal money in Britain in 1971, there were 12 pennies in a shilling, so a penny was a small coin.
Learning Activities
- Two voices: one child is the passenger and one is the boatman. Swap roles for the second reading.
- Pay the fare: use a real coin, or a card circle, and hand it over at 'I have a penny in my purse'.
- Cross the river: lay a blue scarf or towel on the floor as the river, and step across it when the boatman says to step in.
- Eye colour: ask what colour each child's eyes are, and talk about why the boatman says it makes no difference.