How Doth the Little Busy Bee

Q: How did Lewis Carroll change the poem?

In chapter two of [Alice's Adventures in Wonderland](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11), Alice tries to recite the familiar verse and produces [How Doth the Little Crocodile](/how-doth-the-little-crocodile/) instead. The bee improves each hour; the crocodile improves his shining tail. The bee puts effort into gathering and storing food; the crocodile smiles and lets his dinner swim straight towards his jaws. Read the opening of each aloud to hear how Carroll keeps the rhythm while changing what the poem praises.

How Doth the Little Busy Bee Illustration

First recorded: 1715

Origin: England

Lyrics

Against Idleness and Mischief, Isaac Watts

How doth the little busy beeImprove each shining hour,And gather honey all the dayFrom every opening flower!

How skilfully she builds her cell!How neat she spreads the wax!And labours hard to store it wellWith the sweet food she makes.

In works of labour or of skillI would be busy too:For Satan finds some mischief stillFor idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful playLet my first years be past,That I may give for every daySome good account at last.

History and Meaning

The busy bee is a model for the child speaking in Isaac Watts's poem. The first two stanzas watch the bee gather food and make a wax cell. The last two turn the example into a lesson about how to spend a day.

What do the old words mean?

"Doth" means "does". To "improve each shining hour" means to put every hour of daylight to good use. The bee's "cell" is one of the little compartments in a honeycomb. Watts includes books, work, and active play among the ways a child can fill the day. The warning about idle hands reflects the Christian purpose of his collection, Divine Songs, first published in 1715.

How did Lewis Carroll change the poem?

In chapter two of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice tries to recite the familiar verse and produces How Doth the Little Crocodile instead. The bee improves each hour; the crocodile improves his shining tail. The bee puts effort into gathering and storing food; the crocodile smiles and lets his dinner swim straight towards his jaws. Read the opening of each aloud to hear how Carroll keeps the rhythm while changing what the poem praises.

Lyrics from nurseryrhymes.info