The Tortoise and the Eagle — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

A Tortoise, lazily basking in the sun, complained to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would teach her to fly. An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation, and demanded what reward she would give him, if he would take her aloft, and float her in the air. "I will give you," she said, "all the riches of the Red Sea." "I will teach you to fly then," said the Eagle; and taking her up in his talons, he carried her almost to the clouds,?when suddenly letting her go, she fell on a lofty mountain, and dashed her shell to pieces. The Tortoise exclaimed in the moment of death: "I have deserved my present fate; for what had I to do with wings and clouds, who can with difficulty move about on the earth?"
If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.

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Learning from "The Tortoise and the Eagle"

Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "The Tortoise and the Eagle" 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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Frequently asked questions

What are the words to The Tortoise and the Eagle?
The lyrics to The Tortoise and the Eagle are: A Tortoise, lazily basking in the sun, complained to the sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would teach her to fly. An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation, and demanded what reward she would give him, if he would take her aloft, and float her in the air. "I will give you," she said, "all the riches of the Red Sea." "I will teach you to fly then," said the Eagle; and taking her up in his talons, he carried her almost to the clouds,?when suddenly letting her go, she fell on a lofty mountain, and dashed her shell to pieces. The Tortoise exclaimed in the moment of death: "I have deserved my present fate; for what had I to do with wings and clouds, who can with difficulty move about on the earth?" / If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.
How many lines does The Tortoise and the Eagle have?
"The Tortoise and the Eagle" has 2 lines of verse.

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