There was an old woman tossed up in a basket,
Ninety times as high as the moon;
And where she was going, I couldn’t but ask her,
For in her hand she carried a broom.
“Old woman, old woman, old woman,” quoth I,
“Whither, O whither, O whither so high?”
“To sweep the cobwebs off the sky!”
“Shall I go with you? “Aye, by-and-by.”
Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes.
McLoughlin Brothers: New York. Ca 1900.
LOL. How odd. I had a thought about riding an airplane, looking through a window, and seeing this basket lady pass by. I’d be like “what the hell?” Haha.
No telling what we might see out the airplane window!
Elephant
I have always liked this rhyme. And in the illustration the old woman looks so comfy in her basket. Satisfied with her work and knowing she is good at it!
She is snug in the basket and she looks like she is moving fast!
Elephant
Old women love to use a flying container of some kind wether it’s a basket, a mortar (and pestle) or an old cooking pot… do they all stem from the same source, I wonder.
Mother Goose flies on her goose. I will look into the container issue!
Elephant
She looks like Mr. Magoo to me.
I do not agree! Mr Magoo had “blind eyes” and big glasses – she looks like a witch!
Elephant
Well, she is a witch, isn’t she? But a witch who looks a bit like the blind guy 🙂
I know this one! I may even have this illustration. Or perhaps a similar one. Not sure.