Lemons for Molly Lyrics
Four children each get a gift that suits them: lemons for sour Molly, roses for Polly the flower, ginger for quick Willie and powders for sick Tillie. Each gift comes with a rhyme explaining why.
Lemons for Molly
Lemons for Molly;
Molly is sour.
Roses for Polly;
Polly's a flower.
Ginger for Willie;
Willie is quick.
Powders for Tillie;
Tillie is sick.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/lemons-for-molly/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Mary Mapes Dodge
- Tune
- A brisk, sing-song list, like a shopkeeper handing out parcels
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Roses for Polly; | Hold an imaginary rose to your nose and sniff. |
| Ginger for Willie; | Hop quickly from foot to foot, like someone quick. |
What Does Lemons for Molly Mean?
Each couplet pairs a gift with a person, and the second line says why it fits. Lemons are sour, so Molly is sour too, and the poem leaves it to the listener to picture how. Roses make Polly a flower. Ginger is a hot, spicy root; the poem uses it for a quick child. Powders are medicine, and Tillie is sick. The poem works like a game: the item tells you something about the person.
The rhymes are real and clear: sour with flower, and quick with sick. Quick means lively and fast. With only eight lines the poem is easy to learn and then continue, by making up gifts for the people in your own family.
History and Origin
Mary Mapes Dodge's collection of verses for children, copyrighted in 1874, includes this rhyme. It is a list of four couplets.
Learning Activities
- Gift matching: bring a lemon, a flower and a piece of ginger to the table and let the child match each to its line.
- Make your own: think up a gift and a rhyme for each person at home, such as books for Luke, who is a reader.
- Smell test: sniff a lemon, a rose and a pinch of ground ginger and describe each smell.
- Rhyme pairs: find the pairs sour/flower and quick/sick, and think of more rhymes for each word.