There Was an Old Man of Hong Kong Lyrics
An old man of Hong Kong never did anything wrong. He lay on his back with his head in a sack, and the last word describes him as innocuous.
There Was an Old Man of Hong Kong
There was an old man of Hong Kong,
Who never did anything wrong;
He lay on his back, with his head in a sack,
That innocuous old man of Hong Kong.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/there-was-an-old-man-of-hong-kong/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Edward Lear
- Tune
- Flat and deadpan, with a grin at the last word
- Best for ages
- 4 to 9 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| He lay on his back, | Lie down on the floor and look up. |
| With his head in a sack, | Pull a pretend sack over your head and stay very still. |
What Does There Was an Old Man of Hong Kong Mean?
The joke is how the old man stays out of trouble: by doing nothing at all. He never did anything wrong because he lay on his back with his head in a sack. The last words name him innocuous, which means harmless, and the picture shows why. He cannot hurt anyone while he is lying still and cannot see.
It rhymes Kong with wrong, and back with sack. The poem is also a small example of how a limerick works: it starts with a person and a place, gives them an odd habit, and ends with a word that describes them.
History and Origin
Lear adds that the lines beginning There was an old man of Tobago were suggested by a friend as a form of verse that would allow limitless variety for rhymes and pictures. The Hong Kong man is one more variation on it.
Learning Activities
- Be innocuous: lie still on the floor for ten seconds and see who can stay quietest.
- Odd habit: invent an old man of another place who has a strange habit.
- Word hunt: look for other words that mean harmless.
- Rhyme pairs: match Kong with wrong and back with sack.