Minnie and Mattie Lyrics
Minnie, Mattie and May spend a spring day in the country, where they hear a pig squeal, watch a lamb frisk, listen to hens calling their ducklings and chickens, and pick violets and primroses before the roses are out.
Minnie and Mattie
Minnie and Mattie
And fat little May,
Out in the country,
Spending a day.
Such a bright day,
With the sun glowing,
And the trees half in leaf,
And the grass growing.
Pinky white pigling
Squeals through his snout,
Woolly white lambkin
Frisks all about.
Cluck! cluck! the nursing hen
Summons her folk, -
Ducklings all downy soft
Yellow as yolk.
Cluck! cluck! the mother hen
Summons her chickens
To peck the dainty bits
Found in her pickings.
Minnie and Mattie
And May carry posies,
Half of sweet violets,
Half of primroses.
Give the sun time enough,
Glowing and glowing,
He'll rouse the roses
And bring them blowing.
Don't wait for roses
Losing to-day,
O Minnie, Mattie,
And wise little May.
Violets and primroses
Blossom to-day
For Minnie and Mattie
And fat little May.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/minnie-and-mattie/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Christina Rossetti
- Tune
- Cheerful and brisk, like a walk, with a 'cluck cluck' in two voices
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Cluck! cluck! the nursing hen | Tuck your hands under your arms and flap like wings while you cluck. |
| Woolly white lambkin | Hop on the spot like a lamb. |
What Does Minnie and Mattie Mean?
The poem is a list of country sights and sounds laid out in nine four-line verses. The first tells us it is a bright day, with trees half in leaf and grass growing, so it is early spring. Then come the animals: a pigling squealing, a lambkin (a small lamb) frisking, a hen calling her ducklings, and a mother hen calling her chickens.
The girls then pick posies, small bunches of flowers, half violets and half primroses, which are pale yellow spring flowers. The last three verses give the point: the sun will wake the roses in time, but don't wait for roses, losing today. Blowing here means flowering. The wise one is little May, who enjoys what is out now instead of waiting for what comes later.
History and Origin
Christina Rossetti put this poem in Sing-Song, the nursery rhyme book she published in 1872. It runs to nine verses, long for a children's poem, and its advice to enjoy today's flowers gives the whole day a shape.
Learning Activities
- Sound safari: take a walk and list every animal sound heard, matching each to a verse: squeal, bleat, cluck.
- Posy making: gather a few spring flowers or draw them, and tie them into a small bunch.
- Name the babies: pigling, lambkin, duckling and chicken are young animals; ask the child to say what each grows up to be.
- Today's flowers: talk about what is blooming now and what must wait, as in the last verses.