Famous Diddle Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Diddle poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous diddle poems. These examples illustrate what a famous diddle poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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142. Epistle to Major Logan

by Robert Burns
 HAIL, thairm-inspirin’, rattlin’ Willie!
Tho’ fortune’s road be rough an’ hilly
To every fiddling, rhyming billie,
 We never heed,
But take it like the unback’d filly,
 Proud o’ her speed.


When, idly goavin’, whiles we saunter,
Yirr! fancy barks, awa we canter,
Up hill, down brae, till some mischanter,
 Some black bog-hole,
Arrests us; then the scathe an’ banter
 We’re forced to thole.


Hale be your heart!...Read more of this...

Mulligans Mare

by Andrew Barton Paterson
 Oh, Mulligan's bar was the deuce of a place 
To drink, and to fight, and to gamble and race; 
The height of choice spirits from near and from far 
Were all concentrated on Mulligan's bar. 

There was "Jerry the Swell", and the jockey-boy Ned, 
"Dog-bite-me" -- so called from the shape of his head -- 
And a man whom...Read more of this...

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

by Mother Goose
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John
Went to bed with his breeches on,
One stocking off, and one stocking on;
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John....Read more of this...

There was an Old Man of the Isles

by Edward Lear
There was an Old Man of the Isles,Whose face was pervaded with smiles;He sang "High dum diddle," and played on the fiddle,That amiable Man of the Isles. ...Read more of this...

Dram-Shop Ditty

by Robert William Service
 I drink my fill of foamy ale
I sing a song, I tell a tale,
I play the fiddle;
My throat is chronically dry,
Yet savant of a sort am I,
And Life's my riddle.

For look! I raise my arm to drink-
A voluntary act, you think
(Nay, Sir, you're grinning)>
You're wrong: this stein of beer I've drained
to emptiness was pre-ordained
Since Time's beginning.

But stay! 'Tis I...Read more of this...

Policeman G

by Andrew Barton Paterson
 To Policeman G. the Inspector said: 
"When you pass the 'shops' you must turn your head; 
If you took a wager, that would be a sin; 
So you'll earn no stripes if you run them in." 
Mush-a-ring-tiy-ah, 
Fol-de-diddle-doh! 
To the House Committee, the Inspector said: 
"'Tis a terrible thing how the gamblers spread, 
For they bet on the steeple,...Read more of this...

Three Songs

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,--
The wild waves whist--
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.
Hark, hark!
Bow, wow,
The watch-dogs bark:
Bow, wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow!

--from The Tempest




Tell me where is Fancy bred,
Or in the heart or in the head?
How begot, how nourishèd?
Reply, reply.
It is engender'd...Read more of this...

The Higher Pantheism in a Nutshell

by Algernon Charles Swinburne
 One, who is not, we see; but one, whom we see not, is; 
Surely this is not that; but that is assuredly this. 

What, and wherefore, and whence? for under is over and under; 
If thunder could be without lightning, lightning could be without thunder. 

Doubt is faith in the main; but faith, on the whole, is doubt; 
We...Read more of this...

The Corn-stalk Fiddle

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
When the corn 's all cut and the bright stalks shine
Like the burnished spears of a field of gold;
When the field-mice rich on the nubbins dine,
And the frost comes white and the wind blows cold;
Then it's heigho! fellows and hi-diddle-diddle,
For the time is ripe for the corn-stalk fiddle.
And you take a stalk that is straight and long,
With an expert eye...Read more of this...

My Little Maid

by Mother Goose
High diddle doubt, my candle's out
  My little maid is not at home;
Saddle my hog and bridle my dog,
  And fetch my little maid home....Read more of this...

Sams Racehorse

by Marriott Edgar
 When Sam Small retired from the Army 
He'd a pension of ninepence a day,
And seven pounds fourteen and twopence 
He'd saved from his rations and pay.

He knew this 'ere wasn't a fortune, 
But reckoned with prudence and care
He'd find some investment to save him 
From hard work and things like that there.

He thought he'd invest in a race orse,...Read more of this...

The Cat And The Fiddle

by Mother Goose
    Hey, diddle, diddle!
    The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
    The little dog laughed
    To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon....Read more of this...

71. Second Epistle to Davie

by Robert Burns
 AULD NEIBOUR,I’m three times doubly o’er your debtor,
For your auld-farrant, frien’ly letter;
Tho’ I maun say’t I doubt ye flatter,
 Ye speak sae fair;
For my puir, silly, rhymin clatter
 Some less maun sair.


Hale be your heart, hale be your fiddle,
Lang may your elbuck jink diddle,
To cheer you thro’ the weary widdle
 O’ war’ly cares;
Till barins’ barins kindly cuddle
 Your auld...Read more of this...

Fairy Land iii

by William Shakespeare
 COME unto these yellow sands, 
 And then take hands: 
Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,-- 
 The wild waves whist,-- 
Foot it featly here and there; 
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear. 
 Hark, hark! 
 Bow, wow, 
 The watch-dogs bark: 
 Bow, wow. 
 Hark, hark! I hear 
 The strain of strutting chanticleer 
 Cry,...Read more of this...

Deacon Jones' Grievance

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I 've been watchin' of 'em, parson,
An' I 'm sorry fur to say
'At my mind is not contented
With the loose an' keerless way
'At the young folks treat the music;
'T ain't the proper sort o' choir.
Then I don't believe in Christuns
A-singin' hymns for hire.
But I never would 'a' murmured
An' the matter might 'a' gone
Ef it was n't fur the antics
'At I've...Read more of this...

The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon

by J R R Tolkien
 There is an inn, a merry old inn
beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown
That the Man in the Moon himself came down
one night to drink his fill.

The ostler has a tipsy cat
that plays a five-stringed fiddle;
And up and down he saws his bow
Now squeaking high, now purring low,
now sawing in the middle.

The landlord keeps...Read more of this...

The Merchants Of London

by Mother Goose
Hey diddle dinkety poppety pet,
The merchants of London they wear scarlet,
Silk in the collar and gold in the hem,
So merrily march the merchant men....Read more of this...

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