Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan
Peter, popper, dopper, Dan,
Catch a moonbeam if you can;
Climb a cedar ten feet high
And pick the planets from the sky.
You’re a wonder, little man —
Peter, popper, dopper, Dan.
First published in The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes (1918).
This is one of those rhymes that sails straight into childhood’s version of physics — which is to say, none at all. In a child’s mind, the moon is as reachable as the cookie jar, and the top of the cedar tree is basically the border of outer space. The name itself — Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan — loops and bounces like a skipping-song, all sound before sense, which is exactly how children think before the world explains otherwise. It’s not about actually catching a moonbeam. It’s about living in the moment before you’re told you can’t.
