The Cow Lyrics
A friendly red and white cow gives cream for the apple-tart, wanders through the open air and eats the meadow flowers. These twelve lines say what a child loves about a cow, and where cream comes from.
The Cow
The friendly cow all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple-tart.
She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;
And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-cow/
- Type
- Poems for Children, Animal Rhymes
- Written by
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Tune
- Read slowly and calmly, like a cow crossing a field
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
What Does The Cow Mean?
Each of the three verses gives a picture of the cow. First comes what the child loves: the friendly red and white cow gives cream to eat with apple-tart, "with all her might". Then she wanders about, lowing, in the open air and the light of day. Last she walks among the meadow grass, blown by the winds and wet with the showers, and eats the meadow flowers.
To low is the old word for the sound a cow makes, the moo. Cream is the rich, thick part of milk that rises to the top if fresh milk stands, and the child's joke is that the cow gives it "with all her might" as if it took great effort. A tart is a fruit pastry, so an apple-tart is a kind of apple pie. A meadow is a field of grass and wild flowers.
The line "and yet she cannot stray" is not explained by the poem. One way to read it is that a cow in an enclosed field may wander freely but is never truly lost.
History and Origin
Stevenson's cow poem is from 1885. Its author is introduced on the page for The Land of Counterpane.
Learning Activities
- Where does cream come from?: leave a bottle of fresh milk to stand, or look at cream on a carton, and talk about what the cow gives.
- Low like a cow: practise a long slow moo, then a short one, and decide which fits the poem.
- Draw the meadow: draw a red and white cow in a field with grass and flowers.
- Apple-tart talk: ask the child what they like to eat with cream or milk.