Ririro

There Was a Man in Our Town (Nursery Rhyme)

Summary


"There Was a Man in Our Town" is a short nursery rhyme about a wonderfully absurd man from Thessaly whose strange actions defy all logic. He scratches out his own eyes in a thorn bush, then — undeterred — dances joyfully before leaping into another bush to scratch them right back in. The rhyme's cheerful nonsense and bouncy rhythm make it an irresistibly silly read-aloud, capturing the playful, anything-can-happen spirit that makes nonsense verse so endlessly entertaining for young children.

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There was a man in Thessaly,

And he was wondrous wise, He jumped into a thorn bush, And scratched out both his eyes

A silly old man leaping joyfully into a thorn bush in a sunny meadow, illustrating the nursery rhyme There Was a Man in Our Town.

And when he saw his eyes were out, He danced with might and main, Then jumped into another bush

And scratched them in again.

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Credits

Ririro is the in-house pen name used by the Ririro editorial team for traditional nursery rhymes and anonymous folk verses adapted for the site. This rhyme is rooted in a long tradition of British nonsense verse, with early printed versions tracing back to the 18th century.