​Over In The Meadow

​Over In The Meadow
 
Over in the meadow,
     In the sand in the sun,
Lived an old mother toadie,
     And her little toadie one,
“Wink!” said the mother;
      “I wink!” said the one,
So they winked and they blinked,
     In the sand in the sun.
 
Over in the meadow,
     Where the stream runs blue,
Lived an old mother fish,
     And her little fishes two,
“Swim!” said the mother;
      “We swim!” said the two,
So they swam and they leaped,
     Where the stream runs blue.
 
Over in the meadow,
     In a hole in a tree,
Lived an old mother bluebird,
     And her little birdies three,
“Sing!” said the mother;
      “We sing!” said the three,
So they sang and were glad,
     In a hole in the tree.
 
Over in the meadow,
     In the reeds on the shore,
Lived an old mother muskrat,
     And her little ratties four,
“Dive!” said the mother;
      “We dive!” said the four,
So they dived and they burrowed,
     In the reeds on the shore.
 
Over in the meadow,
     In a snug beehive,
Lived a mother honey bee,
     And her little bees five,
“Buzz!” said the mother;
      “We buzz!” said the five,
So they buzzed and they hummed,
     In the snug beehive.
 
Over in the meadow,
     In a nest built of sticks,
Lived a black mother crow,
     And her little crows six,
“Caw!” said the mother;
      “We caw!” said the six,
So they cawed and they called,
     In their nest built of sticks.
 
Over in the meadow,
     Where the grass is so even,
Lived a gay mother cricket,
     And her little crickets seven.
“Chirp!” said the mother;
      “We chirp!” said the seven,
So they chirped cheery notes,
     In the grass soft and even.
 
Over in the meadow,
     By the old mossy gate,
Lived a brown mother lizard,
     And her little lizards eight,
“Bask!” said the mother;
      “We bask!” said the eight,
So they basked in the sun,
     On the old mossy gate.
 
Over in the meadow,
     Where the quiet pools shine,
Lived a green mother frog,
     And her little froggies nine,
“Croak!” said the mother;
      “We croak!” said the nine,
So they croaked and they splashed,
     Where the quiet pools shine.
 
Over in the meadow,
     In a sly little den,
Lived a gray mother spider,
     And her little spiders ten,
“Spin!” said the mother;
      “We spin!” said the ten,
So they spun lacy webs,
     In their sly little den.
 
By Olive A. Wadsworth (1870)
 
“Over In The Meadow” is a counting poem that can be used to help people gain familiarity with the names, spoken sounds, and concept of numbers, by linking them in the mind’s eye to the memorable word pictures in the ten stanzas of eight lines each that make up the poem.
 
Olive A. Wadsworth is a pseudonym of Katherine Floyd ‘Kitty’ Dana, who was born on 21 January 1835 in Mastic, New York, United States of America. She was married to William Buck ‘Buck’ Dana. She became a writer, a poet, and an artist. Katherine Floyd ‘Kitty’ Dana passed on at 51 years of age on 6 April 1886.