On every golden scale

Leonora Carrington

How doth the little crocodile...  (1998)

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!

Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland

Leonora Carrington sculpture, Mexico City

How doth the little busy Bee

 Improve each shining Hour, 

And gather Honey all the day 

 From every opening Flower! 

 How skilfully she builds her Cell! 

 How neat she spreads the Wax! 

And labours hard to store it well 

 With the sweet food she makes. 

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Isaac Watts

Against Idleness and Mischief

Walt Disney, 1951

"How Doth the Little Crocodile" is a parody of the moralistic poem "Against Idleness and Mischief" by Isaac Watts (Alice was originally trying to recite that). Watts' poem begins "How doth the little busy bee," and uses a bee as a model of hard work. In Carroll's parody, the crocodile's corresponding "virtues" are deception and predation, themes which recur throughout Alice's adventures in both books, and especially in the poems."

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