I found a little beetle, so that beetle was his name,

And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.

I put him in a matchbox, and I kept him all the day...

And Nanny let my beetle out

Yes, Nanny let my beetle out

She went and let my beetle out-

And beetle ran away.



She said she didn't mean it, and I never sauid she did,

She said she wanted matches, and she just took off the lid

She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch

An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.



She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind

As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find

If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid-

And we'd get another matchbox, and write BEETLE on the lid.



We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,

And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,

And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:

"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"



It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be

And he had a sort of look as if he thought it might be ME,

And he had a kind of look as if he thought he ought to say:

"I'm very, very sorry that I tried to run away."



And Nanny's very sorry too, for you know what she did,

And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,

So Nan and me are friends, because it's difficult to catch

An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match