Text: Flanders & Swann. The Sloth.

A Bradypus, or Sloth, am I,

I live a life of ease

Contented not to do or die,

But idle as I please

I have three toes on either foot, Or half a doz. on both

With leaves and fruits, and shoots to eat,

How sweet to be a Sloth



The world is such a cheerful place

When viewed from upside-down;

It makes a rise of every fall,

A smile of every frown;

I watch the fleeting flutter by

Of butterfly or moth

And think of all the things I'd try

If I were not a Sloth.



I could climb the very highest Himalayas,

Be among the greatest ever tennis players,

Win at chess or marry a Princess or

Study hard and be an eminent professor.

I could be a millionaire, play the clarinet,

Travel everywhere,

Learn to cook, catch a crook,

Win a war then write a book about it.

I could paint a Mona Lisa,

I could be another Caesar.

Compose an oratorio that was sublime.

The door's not shut on my genius but

I just don't have the time!



For days and days among the trees

I sleep and dream and doze

Just gently swaying in the breeze

Suspended by my toes

While eager beavers overhead

Rush through the undergrowth

I watch the clouds beneath my feet;

How sweet to be a Sloth.