tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post3482935277233334982..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Are nursery rhymes relevant? I hope not, says Griselda HeppelKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-87581900435228447252017-12-03T05:49:50.954+00:002017-12-03T05:49:50.954+00:00Thank you for saying this. Nursery rhymes are mean...Thank you for saying this. Nursery rhymes are meant to be nonsensical and are so in every language I speak; it is essential to teach a child that language is fun and imaginative and even wild.Dipika Mukherjeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17734481154069467025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25882499196300888192017-12-02T14:40:38.265+00:002017-12-02T14:40:38.265+00:00Amen to all that, Griselda! Long may ambiguity and...Amen to all that, Griselda! Long may ambiguity and nonsense delight our ears.Sandra Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01761260568729338471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73661178308015480462017-12-02T08:00:24.288+00:002017-12-02T08:00:24.288+00:00Not only are nursery rhymes gruesomely delightful,...Not only are nursery rhymes gruesomely delightful, they have mythologic, archetypical psychological weight. They are the source of many of our central linguistic metaphors. Up with nursery rhymes! Great post. Umberto Tosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939504157464234443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-4802240204852834312017-12-01T21:24:16.344+00:002017-12-01T21:24:16.344+00:00Thank you all - so good to know others value this ...Thank you all - so good to know others value this seemingly trivial (but definitely not) part of our heritage. I'm optimistic on the whole: I don't think they will ever die out completely, though some might become less well-known (when did you last hear anyone sing "I had a little nut tree"?). <br /><br />Inventing new ones, now that's a challenge. As you say, Susan, if people managed it in other eras, making brilliantly snide political comments, surely SOMEBODY should be able to do something with Brexit and Twitter ... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-9439412041460698082017-12-01T10:40:32.586+00:002017-12-01T10:40:32.586+00:00Great blog, Griselda. I really enjoyed it. Like yo...Great blog, Griselda. I really enjoyed it. Like you, I've always been a big fan of the beautiful nonsense in 'nursery rhymes' and 'fairy-tales' -- where the rhymes were never for the nursery and the tales hardly ever have anything to say about fairies.<br /><br />The rhythms and rhymes are certainly part of their appeal, but it must also be, as Griselda says, the weird, poetical images -- a cow jumping over the moon, a cat playing the fiddle, an old woman flying past the stars in a basket. Look at the long list of artists who've delighted in illustrating the rhymes.<br /><br />They aren't relevant today? Well, since most of them seem to have been comments on current affairs, they were 'relevant' for a few years: then they were just remembered because they were odd and beautiful. If we need to make them 'relevant' we need some modern, scathing satirical verse - God knows, we have enough material. Anybody feel up to the job?Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-58635075444097408552017-12-01T10:11:12.152+00:002017-12-01T10:11:12.152+00:00Excellent. Thanks GriseldaExcellent. Thanks GriseldaJan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73098413592953664622017-12-01T10:08:52.933+00:002017-12-01T10:08:52.933+00:00Thanks Griselda. Even my grandchildren are well pa...Thanks Griselda. Even my grandchildren are well past the nursery rhyme stage now but it's so, so sad that youngsters are being deprived of these lovely rhythms, rhymes and imagination-freeing 'truths'. They'll get to know soon enough about matter and anti-matter, quantum 'impossibilities' and all the rest of that fascinating stuff, but let's not take away their cobwebs in the stars or the mind-stretching visions of 'normal' people and animals doing extraordinary things. Their worlds are huge, so are their imaginations, there'll be plenty of restrictions on their freedoms later. so let's not clamp on the leg-irons too soon.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-90404681340094206882017-12-01T08:31:44.359+00:002017-12-01T08:31:44.359+00:00Very well said. Kids don't give a fig for the ...Very well said. Kids don't give a fig for the words they just like the rhymes. Id they ask we can do what adults ahve always done, make a fist at explaining and probably get it all wrong. Life is so much more fun because of it Wendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.com