And So To Bed
When children cannot get to sleep
I’m told they take to counting sheep;
And even grown-up Dads and Mothers
Fall asleep, like many others,
By the curious device
Of seeing sheep before their eyes.
But when a lamb is sent to bed,
And cannot get to sleep, instead,
How – does anyone suppose –
Can he bring himself to doze?
The answer is – as any sheep’ll
Tell you – it’s by counting people!
For sheep consider people are
The oddest animals by far;
With only half as many feet
As any others that they meet;
And heads so high up in the air
That one can hardly see they’re there!
And heaven knows how they can eat,
With mouths so far above their feet;
Or be so pitifully dull
Without a decent fleece or wool;
Nor why their second legs reside
Like penguins’ – useless at their side!
So, given people are so odd,
The journey to the land of Nod
Is quite a cosy pleasure when
A lamb compares himself to men;
And, counting them, he drifts to sleep
With gratitude that he’s a sheep!
_____________
( from ‘Bertie and the Younger Set’)