Tweedledum and Tweedledee Lyrics
Two brothers are ready to fight over a broken rattle, until an enormous crow flies past and scares them so badly that they forget what the argument was about.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee
Resolved to have a battle,
For Tweedle-dum said Tweedle-dee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
The second verse
Just then flew by a monstrous crow,
As big as a tar barrel,
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/tweedledum-and-tweedledee/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Tweedledum and Tweedledee Mean?
Tweedledum is sure Tweedledee has spoiled his new rattle, and the two decide to settle it with a battle. Before it starts, a crow as big as a tar barrel flies overhead, and both "heroes" are so frightened that they forget their quarrel.
It is a quiet joke about how small most arguments are. Anyone with two children at home will recognize the rattle, and probably wish for a crow.
History and Origin
The names are older than the rhyme. In 1725 the poet John Byrom wrote a short verse making fun of a feud between the composers Handel and Bononcini, and ended it by saying the difference between them was like that between tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee: in other words, no difference at all. The nursery rhyme turned the phrase into two characters.
In 1871 Lewis Carroll put them in Through the Looking-Glass, where Alice meets the pair, remembers the old rhyme, and watches them get ready for their battle, crow and all.
Learning Activities
- Mirror twins: two children stand face to face and copy each other's moves, like Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
- Solve it another way: ask how the brothers could have fixed the rattle problem without a crow.
- Read on: for older children, read the Tweedledum and Tweedledee chapter of Through the Looking-Glass.