I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was 
    his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered 
    just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him 
    all the day ...
And Nanny let my beetle out -                    Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -                           She went and let my beetle out -                                          And Beetle ran away.

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said 
    she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off 
    the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult 
    to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for 
    a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't 
    mind,
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's 
    certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where 
    beetles hid -
And we'd get another match-box and write 
    BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might 
    be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle 
    likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort 
    of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"

It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must 
    be ME,And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought 
    to say:
"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry too for you-know-what-
    she-did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on 
    the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult 
    to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.