Laurel · A. A. Milne · When We Were Very Young

Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy-Blue

A. A. Milne (1882–1956) · 1924

ABABCCCB · 56 lines · from When We Were Very Young

“What have you done with your sheep,Little Bo-Peep?What have you done with your sheep,Bo-Peep?”“Little Boy Blue, what fun!I’ve lost them, every one!”“Oh, what a thing to have done,Little Bo-Peep!”

“What have you done with your sheep,Little Boy Blue?What have you done with your sheep,Boy Blue?”“Little Bo-Peep, my sheepWent off, when I was asleep.”“I’m sorry about your sheep,Little Boy Blue.”

“What are you going to do,Little Bo-Peep?What are you going to do,Bo-Peep?”“Little Boy Blue, you’ll seeThey’ll all come home to tea.”“They wouldn’t do that for me,Little Bo-Peep.”

“What are you going to do,Little Boy Blue?What are you going to do,Boy Blue?”“Little Bo-Peep, I’ll blowMy horn for an hour or so.”“Isn’t that rather slow,Little Boy Blue?”

“Whom are you going to marry,Little Bo-Peep?Whom are you going to marry,Bo-Peep?”“Little Boy Blue, Boy Blue,I’d like to marry you.”“I think I should like it too,Little Bo-Peep.”

“Where are we going to live,Little Boy Blue?Where are we going to live,Boy Blue?”“Little Bo-Peep, Bo-Peep,Up in the hills with the sheep.”“And you’ll love your little Bo-Peep,Little Boy Blue?”

“I’ll love you for ever and ever,Little Bo-Peep.I’ll love you for ever and ever,Bo-Peep.”“Little Boy Blue, my dear,Keep near, keep very near.”“I shall be always here,Little Bo-Peep.”

Words in this poem

went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy-Blue is in the public domain. This text is taken from When We Were Very Young, Project Gutenberg ebook #70271; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: A. A. Milne, Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy-Blue, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/little-bo-peep-and-little-boy-blue.html, id L27207.

Form and metre

Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy-Blue is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCCB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 AAAABBBA sheep^A · peep^A · sheep^A · peep^A · fun^B · one^B · done^B · peep^A
2 ABABAAAB sheep^A · blue^B · sheep^A · blue^B · sheep^A · asleep^A · sheep^A · blue^B
3 ABABCCCB do^A · peep^B · do^A · peep^B · see^C · tea^C · me^C · peep^B
4 AAAABBBA do^A · blue^A · do^A · blue^A · blow^B · so^B · slow^B · blue^A
5 ABABCCCB marry^A · peep^B · marry^A · peep^B · blue^C · you^C · too^C · peep^B
6 ABABCCCB live^A · blue^B · live^A · blue^B · peep^C · sheep^C · peep^C · blue^B
7 ABABCCCB ever^A · peep^B · ever^A · peep^B · dear^C · near^C · here^C · peep^B

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
“What have you done with your sheep,	7	·······
Little Bo-Peep?	4	/˘··
What have you done with your sheep,	7	·······
Bo-Peep?”	2	··
“Little Boy Blue, what fun!	6	/˘····
I’ve lost them, every one!”	7	···/˘˘·
“Oh, what a thing to have done,	7	·······
Little Bo-Peep!”	4	/˘··
“What have you done with your sheep,	7	·······
Little Boy Blue?	4	/˘··
What have you done with your sheep,	7	·······
Boy Blue?”	2	··
“Little Bo-Peep, my sheep	6	/˘····
Went off, when I was asleep.”	7	·····˘/
“I’m sorry about your sheep,	7	·/˘····
Little Boy Blue.”	4	/˘··
“What are you going to do,	7	···/˘··
Little Bo-Peep?	4	/˘··
What are you going to do,	7	···/˘··
Bo-Peep?”	2	··
“Little Boy Blue, you’ll see	6	/˘····
They’ll all come home to tea.”	6	······
“They wouldn’t do that for me,	7	·/˘····
Little Bo-Peep.”	4	/˘··
“What are you going to do,	7	···/˘··
Little Boy Blue?	4	/˘··
What are you going to do,	7	···/˘··
Boy Blue?”	2	··
“Little Bo-Peep, I’ll blow	6	/˘····
My horn for an hour or so.”	8	····/˘··
“Isn’t that rather slow,	6	˘˘·/˘·
Little Boy Blue?”	4	/˘··
“Whom are you going to marry,	8	···/˘·/˘
Little Bo-Peep?	4	/˘··
Whom are you going to marry,	8	···/˘·/˘
Bo-Peep?”	2	··
“Little Boy Blue, Boy Blue,	6	/˘····
I’d like to marry you.”	6	···/˘·
“I think I should like it too,	7	·······
Little Bo-Peep.”	4	/˘··
“Where are we going to live,	7	···/˘··
Little Boy Blue?	4	/˘··
Where are we going to live,	7	···/˘··
Boy Blue?”	2	··
“Little Bo-Peep, Bo-Peep,	6	/˘····
Up in the hills with the sheep.”	7	·······
“And you’ll love your little Bo-Peep,	8	····/˘··
Little Boy Blue?”	4	/˘··
“I’ll love you for ever and ever,	9	····/˘·/˘
Little Bo-Peep.	4	/˘··
I’ll love you for ever and ever,	9	····/˘·/˘
Bo-Peep.”	2	··
“Little Boy Blue, my dear,	6	/˘····
Keep near, keep very near.”	6	···/˘·
“I shall be always here,	6	···/··
Little Bo-Peep.”	4	/˘··

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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