Hi-diddle Ho-diddle
HI-DIDDLE, HO-DIDDLE,
Pop-diddle-dee,
This Earth of ours, on which we live,
Is round as it can be.
Pray, then, what is a
Mountain, valley, hill?
They are but like little warts,
And pores, on orange-peel.
Hi-diddle, ho-diddle,
Pop-diddle-dee,--
Our Earth is swinging in the air,
As you can plainly see;--
Pray, then, what keeps it
Hanging up in space?
The Sun, my child, attracts the Earth
And holds it in its place.
Hi-diddle, ho-diddle,
Pop-diddle-dee,
A lovely Moon is shining for
This Earth of ours, you see,--
Held in its cradle
Ever since its birth,
Because our globe attracted it,
As the Sun attracts the Earth.
Hi-diddle, ho-diddle,
Pop-diddle-dee,
What I mean by globe, child,
You're wondering now, I see.
A globe or a ball, dear,
Is what is round and true,
And that is why I'm calling it,
This Earth, a globe, to you.
Hi-diddle, ho-diddle,
Pop-diddle-dee,
Instead of globe I might have said
A sphere for you and me;
For all the same, in truth,
Are sphere and globe and ball,
And hemi's half so half this Earth,
A hemisphere, we call.
Hi-diddle, ho-diddle,
Pop-diddle-dee,
'T was once supposed the Earth stood still,
While Sun went round it, free;--
But now we've learned it well,
That 't is the Earth doth turn
Upon its Axis, as it's called;
And also round the Sun.
Hi-diddle, ho-diddle,
Pop-diddle-dee,
Our Earth in turning round,
How long may she be?
She turns on her axis
In a day, and a night,
But to go around the Sun
Takes a year for the flight.