Margaret Evans Price, "Simple Simon," 1917

Margaret Evans Price, "Simple Simon," 1917, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair.
Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Let me taste your ware."

Said the pieman unto Simon,
"Show me first your penny."
Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale;
But all the water he had got
Was in his mother's pail.

Simple Simon went to look,
If plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.

He went for water in a sieve,
But soon it all fell through;
And now poor Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu.