A Was An Ant

  A was an ant     Who seldom stood still,   And who made a nice house     In the side of a hill.               a           Nice little ant!   B was a book     With a binding of blue,   And pictures and stories     For me and for you.               b           Nice little book!   C was a cat   Who ran after a rat;   But his courage did fail   When she seized on his tail.                c           Crafty old cat!   D was a duck     With spots on his back,   Who lived in the water,     And always said "Quack!"                 d           Dear little duck!   E was an elephant,     Stately and wise:   He had tusks and a trunk,     And two queer little eyes,                 e           Oh, what funny small eyes!   F was a fish     Who was caught in a net;   But he got out again,     And is quite alive yet.                 f           Lively young fish!   G was a goat     Who was spotted with brown:   When he did not lie still     He walked up and down.                 g           Good little goat!   H was a hat     Which was all on one side;   Its crown was too high,     And its brim was too wide.                 h           Oh, what a hat!   I was some ice   So white and so nice,   But which nobody tasted;   And so it was wasted.                 i           All that good ice!   J was a jackdaw     Who hopped up and dowa   In the principal street     Of a neighboring town.                 j           All through the town!   K was a kite   Which flew out of sight,     Above houses so high,     Quite into the sky.                 k           Fly away, kite!   L was a light   Which burned all the night,     And lighted the gloom     Of a very dark room.                 l         Useful nice light!   M was a mill   Which stood on a hill,     And turned round and round     With a loud hummy sound.                 m           Useful old mill!   N was a net     Which was thrown in the sea   To catch fish for dinner     For you and for me.                 n           Nice little net!   O was an orange     So yellow and round:   When it fell off the tree,     It fell down to the ground;                 o           Down to the ground!   P was a pig,   Who was not very big;     But his tail was too curly,     And that made him surly.                 p           Cross little pig!   Q was a quail   With a very short tail;     And he fed upon corn     In the evening and morn.                 q           Quaint little quail!   R was a rabbit,   Who had a bad habit     Of eating the flowers     In gardens and bowers.                 r           Naughty fat rabbit!   S was the sugar-tongs,     Nippity-nee,   To take up the sugar     To put in our tea.                 s           Nippity-nee!   T was a tortoise,     All yellow and black:   He walked slowly away,     And he never came back.                 t           Torty never came back!   U was an urn     All polished and bright,   And full of hot water     At noon and at night.                 u           Useful old urn!   V was a villa     Which stood on a hill,   By the side of a river,     And close to a mill.                 v           Nice little villa!   W was a whale   With a very long tail,     Whose movements were frantic     Across the Atlantic.                 w           Monstrous old whale!   X was King Xerxes,   Who, more than all Turks is,     Renowned for his fashion     Of fury and passion.                 x           Angry old Xerxes!   Y was a yew,   Which flourished and grew     By a quiet abode     Near the side of a road.                 y           Dark little yew!   Z was some zinc,   So shiny and bright,     Which caused you to wink     In the sun's merry light.                 z           Beautiful zinc! EDWARD LEAR