Grandmother Grundy
O Grandmother Grundy,
Now what would you say
If the katydids carried
Your glasses away—
Carried them off
To the top of the sky
And used them to watch
The eclipses go by?
First published in The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes (1918).
There’s a special kind of nonsense that only children understand—nonsense that feels half true. And what could be more charming than katydids borrowing glasses to spy on the stars?
It’s part daydream, part bedtime musing—the kind of question a child might really ask an old grandmother over tea. Blanche Fisher Wright’s calm indoor scene contrasts beautifully with the rhyme’s wild idea, anchoring the imagination just enough to make it believable.
It’s one of those verses where you can almost hear the ticking clock, smell the tea, and feel the quiet before bedtime—while someone, somewhere, pictures a sky full of insects peering through glasses at the moon.
