When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

When that I was but a little tiny boy,
With a hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
And the rain it raineth every day.
With a hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy.

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Learning from "When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy"

Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy" 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 When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy?
The lyrics to When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy are: When that I was but a little tiny boy, / With a hey, ho, the wind and the rain, / A foolish thing was but a toy, / And the rain it raineth every day. / With a hey, ho, the wind and the rain, / A foolish thing was but a toy.
How many lines does When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy have?
"When That I Was But a Little Tiny Boy" has 6 lines of verse.

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