HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE!

Does the title ring a bell?! Well i hope it does! Its a Nursery Rhyme! It still vividly etched in my mind, especially the part where the cow jumped over the moon and the dish ran away with the spoon!. Some of you out there might be lost. I will type out the rhyme after this with a few other familiar ones =). Well yes this is my second post! i am kind of addicted to blogging already. I just had many things that i wanted to post. So this post would be about poetry!! YES some of you might open your  eyes! and most of you would fall asleep.! but i am obviously not going to talk about the Sonnets! by William Shakespeare! His sonnets are still very obscure to me, and requires loads of reading and deep understanding of literature elements which i am not really equipped with. But poetry takes on many forms, and friendly ones, like Nursery Rhymes! Yes the ones about Mary Had A Little Lamb, Hey Diddle Diddle!! One of my all time favourites =D Mary Mary Quite Contrary! Wow i am just reminiscing all those times, when i used to just read all these rhymes, and look at the pictures that are animated so creatively!The nursery rhyme that my lecturer mentioned to us, was the HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE


Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the Dish ran away with the spoon!


I just loved the fact that the cow jumped over the moon and the dish ran away with the spoon! Its just so vivid. I am so curious to how it is still etched in my mind, and after reading and doing some research on nursery rhymes and its meanings, it was a type of entertainment to delight children with impossible imagery and Mr Walt Disney, used these elements in making great and memorable movies for young boys and girls. There are also reasons to why nursery rhymes are important to be exposed to children at primary level. One of the most important reason is to develop phonemic awareness in children. According to Tony Stead, Senior literacy consultant, Mondo Publishing, New York, shows that during the year 1945, an average elementary student has a vocabulary span of 10 000 words and todays children have only a vocabulary span of 2500 words. This is a problem, he adds o say that parents are not cultivating reading values into their children's daily life at a primary level. Many problems also arise for children who are not memorizing or being exposed to the bread- and butter of early children's literature. And also in order for children to understand what they are reading, they have to hear the language first.When kids are asked to create their own stories they rely on the square box of information,rather than their imagination. Its a pity. that imagination is readily drawn up by the media, and not the inner self. Some rhymes like ''Mary Mary Quite Contrary''. Have meaning of their own, after reading about its true meaning which is rather a gruesome truth, i realize that there are people out there creative enough to turn such a fact into a nursery rhyme, enjoyed by children all around the world. This is the true meaning of art to me. And today I am 18, and i am suppose to create a poem, and these research i have made really inspired me and i hope i would also be able to create IMPRESSIVE poetry or even nursery rhymes! Here are some of the nursery rhymes that would really bring back balmy memories of being a five year old kid.


Mary Mary Quite Contrary,
How does your garden grow,
With silver Bells cockle shells
and pretty maids all in a row.

Imaginative drawing create by Scottish artist Shona Penny

Mary in this traditional nursery rhyme  is actually reputed to be Mary Tudor who was the daughter of King Henry VII. Queen Mary was a staunch Catholic and the garden here is actually symbolizes graveyards which were actually increasing in size with those who dared to continue to adhere to the Protestan faith. The silver bells and cockle shells are actually colloquialisms for intruments of TORTURE! the silver bells are thumbscrews which crushed the thumb between two hard screws after tightening the screws! and cockle shells was an instrument of torture which was placed at the genitals. The maids here are  actually device to behead people called the maiden. It all sounds so gruesome, doesn't it. But lets look at how they have covered it up so well and made its way through generations and generations of children.
There are many other poems and nursery rhymes available.That actually have meanings behind its words. Its nice to know about some of the meaning and helps us appreciate values that are not valued by people today! Lets start reading more! for a brighter future and enhance our vocab!
Happy reading 
Thank You 
Kareshma =D