A Pretty Kettle of Fish

In an 1818 letter to his sister Fanny, written during a tour of Scotland, Keats breaks into a little song lyric about all the animals he used to bring home to the family house, over the objections of their grandmother Alice Jennings. Keats as a boy was enamored with "the whole tribe of Bushes and Brooks."


"There was a naughty boy
And a naughty boy was he,
He kept little fishes
In washing tubs three
In spite
Of the might
of the Maid
Nor afraid
Of his Granny-good--
He often would
Hurly-burly
Get up early
And go
By hook or crook
To the brook
And bring home
Miller's thumb,
Tittlebat
Not over fat,
Minnows small
As the stall
Of a glove,
Not above
The size
Of a nice
Little Baby's
Little finger--
O he made
'Twas his trade
Of Fish a Pretty Kettle
A Kettle--
A Kettle
Of Fish a Pretty Kettle
A Kettle!"