How Doth the Little Crocodile
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"How Doth the Little Crocodile" is a poem by Lewis Carroll which appears in his novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It describes a crafty crocodile which lures fish into its mouth with a welcoming smile.
[edit] Text
- How doth the little crocodile
- Improve his shining tail,
- And pour the waters of the Nile
- On every golden scale!
- How cheerfully he seems to grin,
- How neatly he spreads his claws,
- And welcomes little fishes in,
- With gently smiling jaws!
[edit] "Against Idleness and Mischief"
"How Doth the Little Crocodile" is a parody of the moralistic poem "Against Idleness And Mischief" by Isaac Watts.[1] Watts' poem begins "How doth the little busy bee," and uses a bee as a model of hard work. In Carroll's parody, the crocodile's corresponding "virtues" are deception and predation, themes which recur throughout Alice's adventures in both books, and especially in the poems.
[edit] Notes
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