Tonight’s poem is funny, and you need to read it aloud, fast, with a bouncing rhythm. A little boy with a very long name, James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree, takes great care of his mother, though he is only three.
Learn from Songs · Poetry · A2–B1
Disobedience
A. A. Milne’s funny poem about a three-year-old who tells his mother what to do, and a mother who disappears: must never… if you don’t…, reported speech and said he, said she, seems to have been mislaid, the present perfect (hasn’t been heard of since), and reading aloud with rhythm, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
A three-year-old taking care of his mother? That’s the wrong way round!
SOPHIA
Exactly. That’s the joke. He tells her never to go to the end of the town without him. She goes. And then she disappears…
DEMETRIA
Disappears? Where to?
Before you listen: the song
London, 1924
A. A. Milne (1882–1956) was a writer for the comic magazine Punch and a playwright before he became famous for children’s books. He wrote Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) for his son, Christopher Robin.
“Disobedience” is from When We Were Very Young (1924), his first book of poems for children, illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The book was a huge success. The poem’s rhythm imitates the long lines of ancient Latin poetry, which is a joke for adults hidden inside a poem for children.
In the poem, little James James tells his mother she must never go down to the end of the town without him. She puts on a golden gown and drives there anyway. King John puts up a notice: she seems to have been mislaid. And she hasn’t been heard of since.
A good joke turns the world upside down.
Disobedience
A. A. Milne (1882–1956)
James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James
Said to his Mother,
“Mother,” he said, said he;
“You must never go down to the end of the town, if
you don’t go down with me.”
James James
Morrison’s Mother
Put on a golden gown,
James James
Morrison’s Mother
Drove to the end of the town.
James James
Morrison’s Mother
Said to herself, said she:
“I can get right down to the end of the town and be
back in time for tea.”
King John
Put up a notice,
“LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
JAMES JAMES
MORRISON’S MOTHER
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID.
LAST SEEN
WANDERING VAGUELY:
QUITE OF HER OWN ACCORD,
SHE TRIED TO GET DOWN TO THE END OF
THE TOWN—FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD!”
James James
Morrison Morrison
(Commonly known as Jim)
Told his
Other relations
Not to go blaming him.
James James
Said to his Mother,
“Mother,” he said, said he:
“You must never go down to the end of the town with-
out consulting me.”
James James
Morrison’s mother
Hasn’t been heard of since.
King John
Said he was sorry,
So did the Queen and Prince.
King John
(Somebody told me)
Said to a man he knew:
“If people go down to the end of the town, well,
what can anyone do?”
(Now then, very softly)
J. J.
M. M.
W. G. Du P.
Took great
C/o his M*****
Though he was only 3.
J. J.
Said to his M*****
“M*****,” he said, said he:
“You-must-never-go-down-to-the-end-of-the-town-if-you-don’t-go-down-with ME!”
Words in the poem
gown: a long dress
notice: a sign put up for people to read
strayed: wandered away and got lost
mislaid: put somewhere and lost
vaguely: without a clear direction
of her own accord: by her own choice
shillings: old British coins
reward: money for finding something
commonly known as: usually called
relations: relatives, family
consulting: asking for advice or permission
C/o: “care of” (abbreviation)
Read aloud: the bouncing rhythm
PHILO
Read the poem aloud, with a partner, as fast as you can. Who gives the orders? Who disobeys? What does King John do?
SOPHIA
Then listen to a reading, and answer Section A. Read the last stanza very softly, as the poem says.
👑 Listen to the song: “Disobedience” (A. A. Milne, 1924).Find a reading →
Must never… if you don’t…
MARCOS
You must never go down to the end of the town, if you don’t go down with me. You must never go without consulting me.
SOPHIA
must never + infinitive = it is absolutely forbidden. if you don’t… = unless. without + -ing: without consulting me = if you don’t ask me first.
Said he, said she: reported speech
DEMETRIA
“Mother,” he said, said he. Said to herself, said she. He told his other relations not to go blaming him.
SOPHIA
said he / said she is an old, playful repetition, like in folk songs. tell someone not to + infinitive reports a negative order: He told them not to blame him.
Seems to have been mislaid; hasn’t been heard of since
PHILO
She seems to have been mislaid. She hasn’t been heard of since.
SOPHIA
seem to have been + past participle = it looks as if this happened: My keys seem to have been stolen. hasn’t been heard of since = nobody has had news of her from then until now. Both are funny, formal phrases for something silly.
Notices and capital letters
MARCOS
LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED! LAST SEEN WANDERING VAGUELY… FORTY SHILLINGS REWARD!
SOPHIA
Notices use capital letters, short phrases and no articles: LOST: BLACK CAT. REWARD. Write your own notice for something silly that has been lost.
Sophia’s comparison: the boy Samuel and the young Hermes
PHILO
In the Temple at Shiloh, the boy Samuel heard a voice in the night calling his name, and he ran to old Eli: here I am! The child heard God before the old priest did. Sometimes the little ones are wiser than we think.
SOPHIA
And the baby god Hermes, on the day he was born, climbed out of his cradle, stole fifty of Apollo’s cattle, invented the lyre, and climbed back in, pretending to sleep. Children bossing their elders is a very old joke.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| must never + infinitive | absolutely forbidden | You must never go there. |
| if you don’t / without + -ing | unless | without consulting me |
| tell someone not to… | reporting a negative order | He told them not to blame him. |
| seem to have been + past participle | it looks as if this happened | She seems to have been mislaid. |
| hasn’t been heard of since | no news from then until now | She hasn’t been heard of since. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. How old is James James?
2. What does he tell his mother?
3. What does his mother put on?
4. Who puts up a notice?
5. What is the joke of the poem?
6. Which famous bear did Milne write about?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. You must go down to the end of the town.
8. …if you go down with me.
9. …without me. (consult)
10. She seems to have mislaid.
11. She hasn’t been heard since.
12. He told them not blame him.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “You must never to go there.”
14. “She hasn’t been heard of since.”
15. “He told them don’t blame him.”
16. “My keys seem to have been stolen.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Perform it. In groups, perform the poem: one narrator, James James, his Mother, King John. Read the last stanza in a whisper.
Discuss. 1. Why is it funny when children give orders to adults? 2. Where do you think the mother went? 3. Did your family have rules about going places alone?
Write (60–80 words). Write King John’s notice for something silly that has gone missing (a cat, a crown, a teacher!). Use LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED, seems to have been, and LAST SEEN…
Now play the gamebook: a little boy, a missing mother, and the end of the town.Play the gamebook →