Mary’s Lamb

Sarah J. Hale

Mary had a little lamb,

Its fleece was white as snow,

And every where that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go;

He followed her to school one day --

That was against the rule,

It made the children laugh and play

To see a lamb at school.

And so the Teacher turned him out,

But still he lingered near,

And waited patiently about,

Till Mary did appear.

And then he ran to her and laid

His head upon her arm,

As if he said -- "I'm not afraid --

You'll shield me from all harm."

"What makes the lamb love Mary so,"

The little children cry;

"O, Mary loves the lamb you know,

The Teacher did reply,

"And you each gentle animal

In confidence may bind,

 And make them follow at your call,

If you are always kind."

Representative Poetry Online. 2003. Editor, Ian Lancashire, University of Toronto. http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poet145.html

Original text: The Juvenile Miscellany, new series, V (Boston: Putnam and Hunt, 1830): 64. Facsimile in Yankee Doodle's Literary Sampler of Prose, Poetry, & Pictures Being an Anthology of Diverse Works Published for the Edification and/or Entertainment of Young Readers in America Before 1900, Selected from the Rare Book Collections of the Library of Congress (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974: 321-22).