14 Century-Old Riddles Meant For Children That Are Too Tricky For Me, A Fully-Grown Person

One of my new favorite things is perusing the Library of Congress online. It's my favorite thing to do because I can find full books from 300 years ago. Today, I found this book called Riddle-Rhymes: Puzzle Poems for Children with Thinking Caps that was published in 1905. Listen, I did wake up today with a migraine, but I still thought these were pretty hard!

Oh, and if you can't figure them out, the answer is in a "click to reveal" image underneath each one.

1. My 'first' is in snow, but not in rain; My 'second' in knot, and also in skein; My 'third' is in rat, but not in mouse; My 'fourth' is in hut, but not in house; My 'fifth' in pencil, and also in pen; My sixth in slate, and in sponge again. On my 'whole' all shod in shining steel, You glide like a bird, or a boat on its keel, You curve, you turn, in a thousand way,In the merry sport of the winter days."

2. "What day is the least of all the days, And why the least, for works and plays --- The day of all the months and years, With fewest smiles and fewest tears?"

3. "I make the lakes like marble floors; I bridge the brooks for children's feet; I gather in the winter's cold, And drive away the summer's heat."

4. "I roam the world, And surely every one My voice has heard, Since first the world began; Yet never one, By star or moon or sun, My form has seen---Nor child, nor oldest man."

5. "I have no head, no hands, no feet ---Yet I've an eye when I'm complete, And though it has not any sight, And cannot tell the day from night, I still can make my way about, Through many holes go in and out--- And always in my path I bring, Or take with me, and eyeless thing!"

6. "By roadside wild, or garden path, Alike I gladly grow; By cottage door or palace gate, In yellow, white and red I blow. Though I a country child make glad, Or some great queen adorn, I send my fragrance freely forth, But guard my beauty with a thorn."

7. "I have no wings, And yet I fly, With just a tail, Up in the sky. And when you try To pull me low, The higher up I try to go. But when you let Me have my way, I fall to Earth, And there I stay."

8. "As big as a cherry, But more like a berry--- Inside there are many small seeds anyway ---And always (guess well!) It is turned into 'jell,' To go with turkey on Thanksgiving Day."

9. "I live in the house with Tommy, Though nobody bids me stay---Indeed, every one of the family Would like to drive me away. I woke up, they say, the Baby, Asleep in Grandma's lap; I spoiled, so I heard him tell Grandma, The Grandpa's afternoon nap. They drive me away from the table, Away from the window, too; They whisk me from books and from pictures, And scold, whatever I do. So Tommy was set to catch me; And, oh, how Tommy did try! But Tommy, he never will catch me, Because, you see, I'm a ------!"

10. "I'm always rather thin, and often slim; I have a back, but neither head nor limb; And, oddly, I have teeth, yet do not bite; I serve both boy and girl, both man and beast; The good and bad, the greatest and the least --- I smooth the rough, and set the crooked right."

11. "By day, by night, We come, we go, With sound and with light, With rain and with snow; We rainbows wear, And heaven we roam; We live in the air, Yet the sea's our home."

12. "A head have I, but not a nose, Nor eye, nor ear, as you'd suppose, And yet of service I am full--- Though you may have to push and pull; No hands have I to clasp and fold, Yet many things I fix and hold; Nor any feet, yet out and in I bravely go through thick and thin!"

13. "They're variously shapen, Though often they are round, And like old treasure-boxes They're hidden in the ground. And some day they will open, And you may see the show Of all the jewel colors, That in the rainbow glow: The yellow of the topaz, The deepest ruby-red, The sky-blue of the sapphire, A hundred yet unsaid. And, wonder of all wonders,

14. "Were I to say each hour has sixty, There'd be but little riddle in it --- For every one, from five to fifty, Would guess its name in half a ------!"

Got a good riddle? Tell us in the comments below, and if you want to read the full book, you can check it out on the Library of Congress website !