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Riddles.

Topics: classic

I.     I have only one foot, but thousands of toes;     My one foot stands well, but never goes;     I've a good many arms, if you count them all,     But hundreds of fingers, large and small;     From the ends of my fingers my beauty grows;     I breathe with my hair, and I drink with my toes;     I grow bigger and bigger about the waist     Although I am always very tight laced;     None e'er saw me eat--I've no mouth to bite!     Yet I eat all day, and digest all night.     In the summer, with song I shake and quiver,     But in winter I fast and groan and shiver.     II.     There is a plough that hath no share,     Only a coulter that parteth fair;         But the ridges they rise         To a terrible size     Or ever the coulter comes near to tear:     The horses and ridges fierce battle make;     The horses are safe, but the plough may break.     Seed cast in its furrows, or green or sear,     Will lift to the sun neither blade nor ear:         Down it drops plumb         Where no spring-times come,     Nor needeth it any harrowing gear;     Wheat nor poppy nor blade has been found     Able to grow on the naked ground.     FOR MY GRANDCHILD.     III.     Who is it that sleeps like a top all night,     And wakes in the morning so fresh and bright     That he breaks his bed as he gets up,     And leaves it smashed like a china cup?     IV.     I've a very long nose, but what of that?     It is not too long to lie on a mat!     I have very big jaws, but never get fat:     I don't go to church, and I'm not a church rat!     I've a mouth in my middle my food goes in at,     Just like a skate's--that's a fish that's a flat.     In summer I'm seldom able to breathe,     But when winter his blades in ice doth sheathe     I swell my one lung, I look big and I puff,     And I sometimes hiss.--There, that's enough!

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Exploring the themes of classic, George MacDonald delivers a powerful performance in "Riddles."... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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