Rhyme, along with meter, helps make a poem musical. In traditional poetry, a regular rhyme aids the memory for recitation and gives predictable pleasure. A pattern of rhyme, called a scheme, also helps establish the form.

The rhyme makes the poem sound musical melodious. The rhyme creates a feeling of eeriness. Explanation: The use of rhyme gives the poem a musical and melancholy effect.

1 : close similarity in the final sounds of two or more words or lines of writing. 2 : a piece of writing (as a poem) whose lines end in similar sounds. rhyme. verb. rhymed; rhyming.

Introduce the concept of rhyming words to your students. Explain that rhyming words are words that have the same ending sounds. For example, “cat” and “hat” are rhyming words. Read aloud some entries from your book of nursery rhymes, and emphasize the rhyming words as you go along.

Most Popular Nursery Rhymes for Babies

• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Row, row, row your boat.
• Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
• Wheels On The Bus.
• Old Mac Donald Had A Farm.
• One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
• Incy, Wincy Spider.
• Hey, Diddle Diddle.

According to several war historians, the original Humpty Dumpty was not an egg, not a chicken, not a man but a CANNON. Hence, Humpty Dumpty came tumbling down. Due to its massive size, none of the king’s horses and none of the king’s men were able to put it back together again… and so Humpty’s legacy was born.

But of all the alleged nursery rhyme backstories, “Ring Around the Rosie” is probably the most infamous. Though its lyrics and even its title have gone through some changes over the years, the most popular contention is that the sing-songy verse refers to the 1665 Great Plague of London.

Can you keep a secret? I don’t suppose you can. You mustn’t laugh You mustn’t cry But do the best you can! Tickle baby’s ear and tell him or her a secret!

FitzGerald states emphatically that this rhyme arose from the Great Plague, an outbreak of bubonic and pneumonic plague that affected London in the year 1665: Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses is all about the Great Plague; the apparent whimsy being a foil for one of London’s most atavistic dreads (thanks to the Black Death).

to hit once hard and forcefully

The fatalism of the rhyme is brutal: the roses are a euphemism for deadly rashes, the posies a supposed preventative measure; the a-tishoos pertain to sneezing symptoms, and the implication of everyone falling down is, well, death.

The three blind mice were three Protestant loyalists who were accused of plotting against Queen Mary I. The farmer’s wife refers to the queen who with her husband, King Philip of Spain, owned large estates. The three men were burned at the stake.

“Ring a Ring a Rosie” or “Ring Around Roses” which talks about the Black Death which occurred from 1347 in England and Europe.

Three Blind Mice Their names are Forder, Gorder and Horder. At the beginning of the first film, Lord Farquaad banishes them to Shrek’s swamp with the others.

They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife. Did you ever see such a thing in your life As three blind mice? Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?

That’s the way the money goes, Pop goes the weasel. To “pop” is a London slang word for pawn. Even a very poor Victorian Londoner would have had a Sunday best coat or suit that could be pawned when times got hard (Pop goes the weasel), perhaps on cold and damp Monday morning, only to be retrieved on pay day.

“Hickory Dickory Dock” or “Hickety Dickety Dock” is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6489….Hickory Dickory Dock.

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard, To fetch her poor dog a bone. But when she got there the cupboard was bare, To fetch her poor dog a bone.

ADA JUKE

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon. And the dish ran away with the spoon!

three

Old King Cole was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he; He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three.

45 years (1919–1965)