The Caterpillar (Christina Rossetti) Lyrics
Ten lines that start "Brown and furry, caterpillar in a hurry". The poet wishes the caterpillar a safe walk to a shady leaf, safe from a toad and from a bird of prey, and ends with its change into a butterfly. Christina Rossetti put it in Sing-Song, her nursery-rhyme book of 1872.
The Caterpillar (Christina Rossetti)
Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-caterpillar-christina-rossetti/
- Type
- Poems for Children, Animal Rhymes
- Written by
- Christina Rossetti
- Tune
- Brisk at the start, then slow and soft for the last two lines
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Take your walk | Walk two fingers along your arm or the table, one small step at a time. |
| Spin and die | Wrap your hands slowly around each other, like silk going round. |
| To live again a butterfly | Open both hands wide and flutter them like wings. |
What Does The Caterpillar (Christina Rossetti) Mean?
People look this poem up as The Caterpillar, but its first line is Brown and furry, and the two words describe a hairy caterpillar. The poet speaks to it directly, as to a small friend: you are in a hurry, so go and find the shady leaf, or stalk, or what not (or whatever else suits), which may be the chosen spot. A shady place is a safe one. The next lines wish that no toad will spot it and no bird of prey, a bird that hunts, will come hovering past.
The last two lines are about the change. A butterfly caterpillar changes in stages: it finds a safe place, forms a hard case (a chrysalis) round itself, and in time a winged butterfly comes out. "Spin and die, to live again a butterfly" is Rossetti's way of saying that the caterpillar's life as a caterpillar ends and a new life begins. It is about nature and the animal itself. If a child asks about the word "die", you can say that the caterpillar stops being a caterpillar and becomes something new.
The poem is one of two about caterpillars on this site. The Caterpillar, a finger play, tells the same change in three verses with hand movements.
History and Origin
Christina Rossetti (1830 to 1894) was born in London and is remembered above all as a poet. Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book first came out in 1872 and holds short poems written for very young children, each only a few lines long. This is one of the longer ones, at ten lines.
The poem has a rhythm that a child can feel: short lines ("Take your walk") sit beside longer ones, and the pace slows at the end. It is an easy poem to learn in one sitting.
Learning Activities
- Watch a real one: in the garden look for a caterpillar on a leaf, and see which way it goes. Look, do not touch, because some are hairy and can irritate skin.
- Caterpillar to butterfly: fold a strip of green paper into a wiggly caterpillar, then open a coloured sheet like wings on the last line.
- Hurry and slow: read the first lines fast and the last two lines very slowly, and ask which part feels like hurrying.
- Safe places: ask where a small animal could hide in your garden or room, and why a shady leaf is a good spot.