Doctor Drake — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

On a hummock by the lake
Stands the home of Doctor Drake,
Poor old doctor, how he works!
Week by week he never shirks?
Pulling teeth for guinea-fowl,
Soothing puppies when they howl,
Whittling out a hickory peg
For a gander's broken leg,
Giving medicine away
About a hundred times a day,
Linseed oil and elder-bark
To a croaking meadowlark,
Nasty, bitter yarrow-tea
To a tipsy bumble-bee,
A poultice made of plantain leaves
To cure a rabbit with the heaves.
Fever, colic, cramp, or stitch,
Kitten-croup or beaver's-itch,
Any kind of pain or ache
Is cured by dear, old Doctor Drake.

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Learning from "Doctor Drake"

Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "Doctor Drake" uses 20 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 Doctor Drake?
The lyrics to Doctor Drake are: On a hummock by the lake / Stands the home of Doctor Drake, / Poor old doctor, how he works! / Week by week he never shirks? / Pulling teeth for guinea-fowl, / Soothing puppies when they howl, ... Read the full 20-line nursery rhyme at Rhyme Buster.
How many lines does Doctor Drake have?
"Doctor Drake" has 20 lines of verse.

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