Now We Are Six

He played with his ball .
He ran after butterflies ,
Blue ones and red;
He did a hundred happy things—
And then went to bed .

In the Dark

I’ve had my supper,
And had my supper,
And HAD my supper and all;
I’ve heard the story
Of Cinderella,
And how she went to the ball;
I’ve cleaned my teeth,
And I’ve said my prayers,
And I’ve cleaned and said them right;
And they’ve all of them been
And kissed me lots,
They’ve all of them said “Good-night.”
So—here I am in the dark alone,
There’s nobody here to see;
I think to myself,
I play to myself,
And nobody knows what I say to myself;
Here I am in the dark alone,
What is it going to be?
I can think whatever I like to think,
I can play whatever I like to play,
I can laugh whatever I like to laugh,
There’s nobody here but me.
I’m talking to a rabbit…
I’m talking to the sun…


I think I am a hundred—
I’m one.
I’m lying in a forest…
I’m lying in a cave…
I’m talking to a Dragon…
I’m BRAVE.
I’m lying on my left side…
I’m lying on my right…
I’ll play a lot tomorrow…
I’ll think a lot tomorrow…
I’ll laugh…
a lot…
tomorrow…
(Heigh-ho!)
Good-night.

The End

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I’m as clever as clever.
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

A.A. MILNE (1882–1956) began his writing career as a humorist for Punch magazine, and also wrote plays and poetry. In 1926, he published his first stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, which were an instant success. Since then, Pooh has become a world-famous bear, and Milne’s stories have been translated into fifty languages.

ERNEST H. SHEPARD (1879–1976) won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools, and later, like Milne, worked for Punch magazine, as a cartoonist and illustrator. Shepard’s witty and loving illustrations of Winnie-the- Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood have become an inseparable part of the Pooh stories, and they have become classics in their own right.

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Notes

Haw! Haw! Haw!