The Horse and the Loaded Ass — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics
An idle Horse, and an Ass laboring under a heavy burden, were traveling the road together. The Ass, ready to faint under his heavy load, entreated the Horse to assist him, and lighten his burden, by taking some of it upon his back. The Horse was ill-natured and refused to do it; upon which the poor Ass tumbled down in the midst of the highway, and expired. The countryman then took the whole burden, and laid it upon the Horse, together with the skin of the dead Ass.
Laziness often prepares a burden for its own back.
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- idle definition
- ill definition
- laboring definition
- laid definition
- laziness definition
- lighten definition
- load definition
- midst definition
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Learning from "The Horse and the Loaded Ass"
Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "The Horse and the Loaded Ass" uses 2 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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- What are the words to The Horse and the Loaded Ass?
- The lyrics to The Horse and the Loaded Ass are: An idle Horse, and an Ass laboring under a heavy burden, were traveling the road together. The Ass, ready to faint under his heavy load, entreated the Horse to assist him, and lighten his burden, by taking some of it upon his back. The Horse was ill-natured and refused to do it; upon which the poor Ass tumbled down in the midst of the highway, and expired. The countryman then took the whole burden, and laid it upon the Horse, together with the skin of the dead Ass. / Laziness often prepares a burden for its own back.
- How many lines does The Horse and the Loaded Ass have?
- "The Horse and the Loaded Ass" has 2 lines of verse.
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