Bonaparte's Lullaby

I've always loved this shocking old nursery rhyme, which the Opies record as being first printed in 1877, though it is probably older. I drew the pictures back in the late 1980's.

Baby, baby, naughty baby

Hush you squalling thing, I say,

Peace this moment, peace, or maybe

Bonaparte will pass this way.

 

Baby, baby, he's a giant

Tall and black as Rouen steeple

And he breakfasts, dines, rely on't,

Every day on naughty people.

 

Baby, baby, if he hears you,

As he gallops past the house,

Limb from limb at once he'll tear you,

Just as pussy tears a mouse.

 

And he'll beat you, beat you, beat you,

And he'll beat you all to pap,

And he'll eat you, eat you, eat you,

Every morsel, snap, snap, snap.