Edith L. M. King was born at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa, became a student in England, and afterwards taught at Eunice High School, Bloemfontein, where she was headmistress at her retirement in 1922. King spent five years studying art in Paris and exhibited her art with the Everard Group (her older sister was Ruth Everard) and elsewhere. (Thanks to André le Roux, Reference section, National Library of South Africa, Cape Town, for assistance.) Her children's rhymes have a deceptive simplicity. They are all written from a child's perspective, in a child's voice, but any adult reader will soon find that many of these little pieces highlight the child's innocence and unknowing poignantly against the backdrop of a very dark world. Adey, David. Companion to South African English literature. Johannesburg, South Africa: Ad. Donker, 1986. PR 9350 .2 C66 1986 King, Edith L. M. Country Rhymes for Children (Oxford: B. H. Blackwell, 1909). 011650.e.42 British Library --. Fifty Country Rhymes for Children (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1926). 011645.g.117 British Library --. Forms and Fancies. 1926. --. Veld Rhymes for Children with Twenty-six Airs (London: Longmans, Green, 1911). 11647.f.46 British Library --, and Mary Littlewood. Bloemfontein: An Impression in Verse. 1919. Biographical information Given name: Edith L. M. Family name: King Birth date: 1871 Death date: 1962
sadness in spring
Maytime, loveliest season,
Loud bird-parley, new growth green,
Ploughs in furrow, oxen yok...[read poem]
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Loud bird-parley, new growth green,
Ploughs in furrow, oxen yok...
winter
Wind piercing, hill bare, hard to find shelter;
Ford turns foul, lake freezes.
A man could...[read poem]
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Ford turns foul, lake freezes.
A man could...
sir patrick spens
The King sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blood-red wine;
"O where shall I get a ske...[read poem]
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Drinking the blood-red wine;
"O where shall I get a ske...
barbara allen
In Scarlet town, where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwellin',
Made every youth cry We...[read poem]
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There was a fair maid dwellin',
Made every youth cry We...
donal og
It is late last night the dog was speaking of you;
the snipe was speaking of you in her deep ma...[read poem]
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the snipe was speaking of you in her deep ma...
moses' poem
Give ear, O heavens, let me speak;
Let the earth hear the words I utter!
May my discourse ...[read poem]
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Let the earth hear the words I utter!
May my discourse ...
the distracted centipede
A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?...[read poem]
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Until a frog in fun
Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?...
cattle in trucks
Poor cows, poor sheep,
I weep, I weep
To see you packed so tight;
While nought you kn...[read poem]
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I weep, I weep
To see you packed so tight;
While nought you kn...
the law locks up the man or woman
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common;
But lets the g...[read poem]
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Who steals the goose from off the common;
But lets the g...
a strike among the poets
In his chamber, weak and dying,
While the Norman Baron lay,
Loud, without, his men were ...[read poem]
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While the Norman Baron lay,
Loud, without, his men were ...
the limerick packs laughs anatomical
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good one...[read poem]
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Into space that is quite economical.
But the good one...
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