Six Honest Servingmen
by Rudyard Kipling*

I keep six honest servingmen;
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest,
I let them rest from nine till five,
For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
For they are hungry men:
But different folk have different views:
I know a person small ~
She keeps ten million servingmen,
Who get no rest at all
She sends 'em abroad on her own affairs,
From the second she opens her eyes ~
One million Hows, two million Wheres
And seven million Whys!

~ The World Treasury of Children's Literature III, Little Brown, 1985.
* Rudyard Kipling (Dec. 30 - Jan. 18, 1936) English author, poet.