Mary Had a Little Lamb Lyrics
Unlike most nursery rhymes, this one has a named author, a date and a real girl who said the story happened to her. Sarah Josepha Hale published it in Boston in 1830.
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And ev'rywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day,
That was against the rule.
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.
The rest of the original poem
So the Teacher turned him out
But still he lingered near,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear;
And then he ran to her and laid
His head upon her arm
As if he said "I'm not afraid,
You'll keep me from all harm."
"What makes the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry,
"O, Mary loves the lamb you know,"
The Teacher did reply;
"And you each gentle animal
In confidence may bind,
And make them follow at your call
If you are always kind."
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/mary-had-a-little-lamb/
- Type
- Animal Rhymes
- First published
- 1830
- Tune
- Traditional (the tune of Merrily We Roll Along)
- Best for ages
- 1 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Mary had a little lamb | Cradle a pretend lamb in your arms. |
| Its fleece was white as snow | Stroke the soft fleece. |
| And everywhere that Mary went | Walk around the room. |
| The lamb was sure to go | A second child follows close behind. |
What Does Mary Had a Little Lamb Mean?
A lamb follows a girl called Mary everywhere, even to school, where it is against the rules. The children laugh, the teacher sends the lamb out, and it waits patiently by the door until Mary comes back. The last verse gives the moral: the lamb loves Mary because Mary is kind to it.
Most people only know the first verse. The rest of the poem, printed below the lyrics, is where the story and its lesson about kindness really come in.
History and Origin
Sarah Josepha Hale, an American writer and magazine editor, published the poem in 1830 in Poems for Our Children. Years later, Mary Sawyer of Sterling, Massachusetts, said a lamb really had followed her to school when she was a girl, and a local man, John Roulstone, was said to have written the first lines about it. Hale's claim to the poem is the one supported by the printed record.
In 1877 Thomas Edison recited the opening lines while testing his new phonograph, which made them some of the first words ever played back from a recording. The tune most children sing today is the same one used for Merrily We Roll Along.
Learning Activities
- Follow the lamb: one child is Mary and walks around the room. Everyone else is a lamb and must copy exactly how she moves.
- Farm visit: if you can, visit a farm in spring and look at real lambs. Point out that most are not as white as snow.
- Kindness talk: read the last verse and ask why the lamb loves Mary.
- Piano first: the tune uses just three notes at the start (E, D, C), which makes it a common first song on piano or recorder.