When Bertha comes to tea(The kettle sings in glee)The cups and saucers clatterAs they hear her chatter, chatter,And you wonder what's the matterWhen Bertha comes to tea.
When Bertha comes to tea(Her age, I think, is three)She keeps you in a flutter,Cutting cake and bread and butter."Where does it go?" you mutter,When Bertha comes to tea.
When Bertha comes to tea(She isn't shy, not she)The house cat sees, clearly,She loves him very dearly,But--he's suffocated, nearly,When Bertha comes to tea.
When Bertha comes to tea(Along with you and me)She's sure to bring her dolly;Then away with melancholy,And let us all be jollyWhen Bertha comes to tea.
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000759
Copy-textProject Gutenberg Australia, Collected Poems of Henry Lawson (2022), anchor p327; selected digital copy-text retained exactly; wording and layout confirmed against Ironbark Resources under D-180
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