Two Birds
There were two birds sat on a stone,
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de;
One flew away, and then there was one,
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de;
The other bird flew after,
And then there was none,
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de;
And so the stone
Was left alone,
Fa, la, la, la, lal, de.
Origins and Meaning
This quiet little verse has been part of English nursery lore since the late 1700s. Nobody knows exactly where it began, but its lilting “fa, la, la” suggests it grew out of old song traditions — the kind of tune sung outdoors or around the hearth without anyone needing to remember the words exactly right.
On the surface, it’s almost nothing — two birds, a stone, and silence after they’ve flown. Yet that’s part of its charm. It captures a child’s-eye view of nature: something small happens, and it feels important. The rhyme might even hint at friendship or love — how one goes, the other follows — but it never says too much. The rest is left to the listener’s imagination.
