‘As to poetry, you know,’ said Humpty Dumpty, stretching out one of his great hands, ‘I can repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it comes to that — ’

‘Oh, it needn’t come to that!’ Alice hastily said, hoping to keep him from beginning.

‘The piece I’m going to repeat,’ he went on without noticing her remark, ‘was written entirely for your amusement.’

Alice felt that in that case she really ought to listen to it, so she sat down, and said ‘Thank you’ rather sadly.

‘In winter, when the fields are white,

I sing this song for your delight —

only I don’t