How Doth the Little Crocodile facts for kids
How Doth the Little Crocodile is a famous poem written by Lewis Carroll. It appears in his well-known 1865 book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In the story, Alice tries to remember another poem, but she accidentally recites this one instead. The poem cleverly describes a crocodile that seems friendly, but is actually trying to trick little fish into its mouth with a welcoming smile.
Contents
The Poem's Words
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 spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!
What is a Parody?
"How Doth the Little Crocodile" is a special kind of poem called a parody. A parody is like a funny copy of another work. It takes something well-known and changes it to make people laugh or to make a point. Lewis Carroll used this poem to make fun of a very serious poem from his time.
The Original Poem
The poem Alice was trying to remember was called "Against Idleness and Mischief". It was written by Isaac Watts. That poem starts with "How doth the little busy bee..." and talks about how hard-working bees are. It taught children to be busy and good.
Carroll's Clever Twist
Lewis Carroll took the serious idea of the busy bee and turned it upside down. Instead of a hard-working bee, he wrote about a tricky crocodile! The crocodile in Carroll's poem seems polite, but it's actually planning to eat the fish. This shows how Carroll liked to play with ideas and make things funny or unexpected in Alice's adventures.
The Poem in Movies and Art
This poem has been featured in different ways over the years.
- In the 1951 Disney film Alice in Wonderland, the poem is performed by Richard Haydn. He was also the voice of the Caterpillar in the movie.
- Later, in the 1972 film Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Fiona Fullerton recited the poem.
- In 1998, a Surrealist artist named Leonora Carrington was inspired by the poem. She created both a painting and a sculpture with the same title.
