EU Poetry 12: Camp Song Crash Course

Today we will be learning about rhyming sequences... But first, Does anyone know any camp songs?  If you do, feel free to SING OUT!  ...Literally, I mean.

I've got one! But it's really hard to memorize.  I only know the chorus...

"Well the big bald man was a desparado

He came through the town o' Denver Colorado

And he horsed around like a big tornado,

And everywhere he went he gave his WOOHOO!"

There! Did you hear that? Out of those 4 lines, the first 3 had a matching rhyme, and the 4th was a standalone.  ...3 A's and a B.  That is an AAAB sequence.  ...Any other camp songs?

"We wear our pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot!

We wear our wooly undies in the winter when it's not.

And sometimes in the springtime, and sometimes in the fall,

We jump between the covers with NOTHING ON AT ALL!"

Oh!  ...Ok, so, out of THOSE 4 lines, the first 2 lines shared a rhyme, and the 2nd 2 lines shared a different rhyme...  2 A's and 2 B's.  That song is an AABB sequence.  ...Next!

"Last night as I laid on my pillow,

Last night as I laid on my bed,

I stuck my feet out of my window...

...Next morning my neighbor was dead!"

Ooookaaaay, Those 4 verses swiched from rhyme A to rhyme B, back to rhyme A to B again.  That's an ABAB sequence.  ...Now, I know camp STORIES can be pretty grim, but don't any of you know any camp songs that are a LITTLE more family-friendly than this??

I do! I do! ahem...

"Three little angels all dressed in white

Tryin' to get to heaven on the end of a kite

The kite end up broken, down they all fell!

'stead o' goin' to heaven, they all went to-"

Stop! Stop!  No cursing in this classroom!  Well, it's still debated to this day to whether that next word IS a curse word or not, but still... FAMILY FRIENDLY, people-

Don't worry!  It's just a campfire trick!  This is how that song REALLY ends...

"Don't get excited, DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD!

Instead of goin' to heaven, they all went to BED!"

Ah!  ...Ok, my mistake!  ...That's a tricky poem to decipher, but we're focusing on that final verse, then I would say that it's an AA sequence.

"Oh, I get it!  So those A's and B's are just labels for different rhymes in a poem!"

"OR a camp song!"

"Gosh, I wanna learn MORE of these camp songs!  I hope Invisible Ring writes them down for us on her blog soon!

Me too!"

"Good work, students!  We'll be studying more timeless poetry next time. Class dismissed!"