Sulky Sue

Sulky Sue is one of those tiny verses that slipped into nursery-rhyme collections in the late 19th and early 20th century. It doesn’t build a world or tell a long story — it lands one clear punchline. A child named Sue is sulking, and the adults (or other children) suggest turning her to face the wall until she snaps out of it.

In older households, this was a real method of discipline. Children weren’t always lectured. Sometimes they were simply placed facing a corner, expected to “cool down” and make peace with the world. The rhyme echoes that casual approach to childhood misbehavior: light teasing, a dash of mock authority, and zero sugar-coating.