Skip to content
Linespedia

The Four Presents

Topics: classic

I had four brothers over the sea,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;     And they each sent a present unto me.     Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.     The first sent a goose without a bone,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;     The second sent a cherry without a stone,     Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.     The third sent a blanket without a thread,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;     The fourth sent a book that no man could read,     Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.     When the cherry's in the blossom, there is no stone,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine;     When the goose is in the egg-shell, there is no bone.     Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.     When the wool's on the sheep's back, there's no thread,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine:     When the book's in the press, no man can read     Petrum, Partrum, Paradisi, Tempore,     Perrie, Merrie, Dixi, Domine.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"I had four brothers over the sea,..."

Exploring the themes of classic, Walter Crane delivers a powerful performance in "The Four Presents"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"A Kid vowed to Jove, so might he     Find his herd, & his herd did he see     Soon, of lions the prey:     Then 'twas--"Get me away,     And a"

"1.     Three children sliding on the ice,     All on a summer's day,     As it fell out, they all fell in,     The rest they ran away. 2.     N"

"In an old world garden dreaming,     Where the flowers had human names,     Methought, in fantastic seeming,     They disported as squires and"

"Schlaf, Kindlein, schlaf,     Draussen steht ein Schaf,     Stsst sich an ein em Steinelein,     That ihm weh das Beinelein,     Schlaf, Kind"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"A Kid vowed to Jove, so might he     Find his herd..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.