Plenty Lyrics
A list of things there is plenty of: feathers on a hen, thorns on a rose, roaring in a lion's den, fishes in the lake and islands in the sea. The last line brings it home, with plenty of raisins in the cake for you and me.
Plenty
There are plenty feathers on a hen
And prickers on a rose,
There is plenty roaring in a den
Of lions, goodness knows;
There are plenty fishes in the lake
And islands in the sea;
There are plenty raisins in this cake
For even you and me.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/plenty/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Leroy F. Jackson
- Tune
- Even and cheerful, building to the cake at the end
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| There are plenty feathers on a hen | Flap bent arms like wings. |
| There is plenty roaring in a den | Make claws with your hands and give a small roar. |
What Does Plenty Mean?
The poem is a list of lots. A hen is covered in feathers, a rose stem is covered in prickers (an old word for thorns), a lion's den is full of roaring, a lake holds many fishes and the sea is dotted with islands. The last two lines give the list its point: there are plenty of raisins in the cake too, enough "for even you and me".
It is a quiet way to say that there is enough to share. The grammar is informal: "plenty feathers" would usually be "plenty of feathers", and the poem keeps the shorter, more rhythmical way. Rose and knows rhyme, as do sea and me.
History and Origin
Jackson wrote the verse for a 1918 children's book. The list of things there is plenty of ends with the cake, so the poem finishes on something to share.
Learning Activities
- Plenty hunt: go round a room or garden and find something there is plenty of, such as books, leaves or windows.
- Count and share: count raisins or grapes into two bowls so everyone gets the same.
- New verse: make a line in the same pattern, such as There are plenty petals on a flower.
- Roar and flap: do the hen and lion actions in turn and see who can be loudest and quietest.