I Love Little Pussy
Encyclopedia
"I Love Little Pussy" is an English language
nursery rhyme
about a person who is kind to a pet cat. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
number of 12824.
Additional lines include:
(1783–1824), as it conforms to her style. However, there is no corroborative evidence to support this case.
. The line: "pussy and I, very gently will play" has been changed to "and her and I, very gently will play" in modern versions, for this reason.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
about a person who is kind to a pet cat. It has a Roud Folk Song Index
Roud Folk Song Index
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...
number of 12824.
Lyrics
The most common modern version is:I love little pussy,
Her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her,
She'll do me no harm.
So I'll not pull her tail,
Nor drive her away,
But pussy and I,
Very gently will play.
Additional lines include:
I'll sit by the fire
and give her some food
and Pussy will love me
Because I am good.
Origins
The poem is first recorded in The Child's Song Book published in 1830. It has been attributed to Jane TaylorJane Taylor (poet)
Jane Taylor , was an English poet and novelist. She wrote the words for the song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in 1806 at age 23, while living in Shilling Street, Lavenham, Suffolk....
(1783–1824), as it conforms to her style. However, there is no corroborative evidence to support this case.
Reformed versions
The rhyme has become controversial in recent times, where the term "pussy" has become slang for the vaginaVagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
. The line: "pussy and I, very gently will play" has been changed to "and her and I, very gently will play" in modern versions, for this reason.