There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

The poem is about a lady who swallowed a fly by mistake, so to kill that fly, she swallows a spider. She then swallows many other animals, too, which you can find out in the poem. In nature, we can see those small animals get eaten by bigger animals as they are their prey. For example, a spider makes a web to catch flies and small insects and then eats them. With this rule being used by the old lady, she swallowed many animals thinking that they might kill their prey, and, thus, saved her life.

There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly Lyrics

This poem will give you lots of twists and turns, and you will wonder how that is even possible. Let us read the poem's lyrics and understand what the poet wants to say.

Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly

There was an old lady who swallowed the fly.

we don't know why she swallowed that fly,

Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed the spider,

That wiggled and waggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But we don't know why she swallowed that fly,

Perhaps she'll die.

Old Lady Swallowed  A Bird

There was an old lady who swallowed the bird;

How absurd, to swallow a bird!

She swallowed a bird to catch the spider

That wiggled and waggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch a fly.

But we don't know why she swallowed that fly,

Perhaps she'll die

There was an old lady who swallowed the cat.

Imagine that, she swallowed the cat.

She swallowed the cat to catch a bird,

She swallowed a bird to catch the spider

That wiggled and waggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But we don't know why she swallowed that fly

Perhaps she will die

Old Lady Swallowed the Dog

There was an old lady who swallowed the dog.

What a hog! To swallow the dog!

She swallowed the dog to catch a cat.

She swallowed the cat to catch a bird.

She swallowed the bird to catch a spider

That wiggled and waggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch a fly.

But we don't know why she swallowed that fly

Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a goat.

Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!

She swallowed the goat to catch the dog ...

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But we don't know why she swallowed that fly

Perhaps she'll die.

Old Lady Swallowed A Cow

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.

We don't know how she swallowed a cow!

She swallowed the cow to catch the goat...

She swallowed the goat to catch the dog...

She swallowed the dog to catch the cat...

She swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...

She swallowed the bird to catch the spider

That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.

But we dunno why she swallowed that fly

Perhaps she'll die.

Old Lady Who Swallowed So Many Animals 

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse -

She's dead, of course.

Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Song Summary 

The old lady in the poem swallowed lots of animals to kill the previous animal. First, when she swallowed a fly she thought a spider could kill the fly so she swallowed the spider. But to kill the spider, she swallowed the bird. And so on till she finally died after swallowing a horse. 

The lesson hidden in the poem is that we should not swallow animals, insects or birds. We can die due to choking. Instead, we should eat healthy food items like fruits and vegetables and drink fresh juice to live a long healthy life.

Who are the Prey and Predators?

Some animals feed or eat other animals. Such animals are known as predators. The animals that predators feed on are called prey. For example, a tiger feeds on a goat. So here, the tiger is the predator, and the goat is the prey. The concept of prey and predator is used in the poem. From the lyrics of the poem, let us find out which animal is the prey and the predator.

Conclusion 

The poem is about an old lady who dies after swallowing animals, birds and insects. She swallowed a fly by mistake, but to kill the fly, she kept on swallowing animals. In the end, she died when she swallowed a whole horse. Through this poem, good eating habits can be taught to children.