Dere Wus a Liddle Grasshopper
This was first published in a collection of African-American rhymes nearly a century ago. It's in a dialect.
Dere Wus a Liddle Grasshopper
There Was a Little Grasshopper
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Historical Black American English)
(English)
Dere wus a liddle grasshopper
Dat wus always on de jump;
An' caze he never look ahead,
He wus always gittin' a bump.
Huddlety, dumpty, dumpty, dump!
Mind out, or you will git a bump;
Shore as de grass grows 'round de stump
Be keerful, my sweet Sugar Lump.
There was a little grasshopper
That was always on the jump;
And because he never looked ahead,
He was always getting a bump.
Huddlety, dumpty, dumpty, dump!
Watch out, or you will get a bump;
Sure as the grass grows around the stump
Be careful, my sweet Sugar Lump.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, with a Study by Thomas W. Talley of Fisk University (1922).
Standard English version by Lisa Yannucci.
Illustration by Monique Palomares.
