One is
Some count ten, some eleven
And some don’t go past seven
There is sometimes joy and mirth
There are weddings and births
.
Some tell of Silver
And some take your gold
Others will keep quiet
Their secrets untold
.
Some tell of rich and others poor
Some wish, some kiss
Some offer heaven and some hell
And some will for joyous bliss
.
A number for laughing
Another for crying
Yet another for sickness
And one more for dying
.
Some offer a girl
Some offer a boy
And even the Devil's own self.
Some foretell witches
And some foretell wealth
.
But
About all they agree on
Is
One is for sorrow
9 comments:
"Some wish, some kiss"
Nice .. but if one is for sorrow two is for joy.. isn't it ? So for "one" sorrow there should be "two" joys :)
I was looking up the magpie counting rhyme for my daughter and discovered quite a few variations.
two is often for mirth...
and the only consistent one seems to be sorrow...
It's an augury, so you need to see two birds before you get your joy…
:)
One is the loneliest number, but it seems so often to be accompanied by this sorrow.
One is the loneliest number, but it seems so often to be accompanied by this sorrow.
We had learned it as "one for sorrow, two for joy, three for letter, four for toy" but when we were in high school we conveniently changed "toy" to "boy"! Wonder what the boys did. :D
ours was
one for sorrow
two for joy
three a girl
four boy
silver
gold
secret never told...
we never went past seven.
yet my grandma told me eleven was a secret never told, but never told the whole of her version.
Jay - I've never linked one and sorrow.
1 is strength
1 is freedom
1 is independant.
2 can be sorrow, if not more so, and a weakness, and confining...
3 more so... at least you chose not to go for a 3.
not to mention the things you had to do to cancel out the superstition if you saw just one. i was forever nodding three times, spitting in my habd and saying 'hello mr magpie how's your wife and children?'
was that just me?
to cancel the sorrow we just had to wave at mr magpie, just to let him know we know, you know.
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