A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

A beetle once sat on a barberry twig,
And turned at the crank of a thingum-a-jig.
Needles for hornets, nippers for ants,
For the bumblebee baby a new pair of pants,
For the grizzled old gopher a hat and a wig,
The beetle ground out of his thingum-a-jig.

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Learning from "A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig"

Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig" uses 6 lines to create a memorable verse — proof that effective poetry doesn't need to be long. Pay attention to the meter: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables is what makes the rhyme stick in your head.

Songwriters and poets can borrow these patterns. Try writing your own lyrics using the same rhyme scheme and line length as this nursery rhyme. You can also use words from the poem above as starting points — click any word to find rhymes or look up its definition, then build from there.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the words to A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig?
The lyrics to A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig are: A beetle once sat on a barberry twig, / And turned at the crank of a thingum-a-jig. / Needles for hornets, nippers for ants, / For the bumblebee baby a new pair of pants, / For the grizzled old gopher a hat and a wig, / The beetle ground out of his thingum-a-jig.
How many lines does A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig have?
"A Beetle Once Sat on a Barberry Twig" has 6 lines of verse.

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