Dr. DODIDDILY AND THE DEE DOT'S
Wants you to enjoy this little English Nursery Rhyme
written by Edith Sitwell
The King of China's Daughter.
The King of China's daughter,
She never would love me
Though I hung my cap and bells upon
Her nutmeg tree.
For oranges and lemons,
The stars in bright blue air,
(I stole them long ago, my dear)
Were dangling there.
The Moon did give me silver pence,
The sun did give me gold,
And both together softly blew
And made my porridge cold;
But the King of China's daughter
Pretended not to see
When I hung my cap and bells upon
Her nutmeg tree.
The King of China's daughter
So beautiful to see
With her face like yellow water, left
Her nutmeg tree.
Her little rope for skipping
She kissed and gave to me -
Made of painted notes of singing-birds
Among the fields of tea
I skipped across the nutmeg grove, -
I skipped across the sea;
But neither sun nor moon, my dear,
Has yet caught me.
Edith Sitwell.
What with that tinkling laughter of hers, with her exquisite jewelled hair-ornaments, richly- brocaded costumes & tiny, tiny embroidered slippers, she was a fragile precious, perfumed presence.
In his royal palace her father, the King of China, had a huge number of courtiers, officials serving in various administrative posts in many servants in attendance. For many years my role in this assemblage was that of court jester, a duty I enjoyed because it allowed me the right of easy access to high ranking people with whom I, a commoner, would other- wise
not have associated. With time a fondness, even great affection, developed between me and the princess. But I knew my place, preferring that my head with all its funny and somewhat ridiculous musings remain firmly on my shoulders.
Of course, occasionally I imagined myself running off with the King of China's daughter. But when you are pursued by the mighty army of the most powerful man in the world, just how far can one get with beautiful princess whose feet are bound?
Edith Sitwell
