EU Poetry #6: Mother Goose Day

Pop quiz! How many of you read nursery rhymes, aka Mother Goose rhymes when you were in preschool?

"Not me. I read 'em in Kindergarten!"

"I couldn't READ back in preschool. Momma read 'em TO me!"

"I've never HEARD of Mother Goose rhymes."

"You HAVEN'T??"

Teacher:  You will NOW, because today is Mother Goose Day! ...So for today, each of you who know Mother Goose rhymes will share your favorite rhyme, including myself.

Students:  

"Ooh, I've got one! It's about Mother Goose herself!"

"I've got one too!"

"Me too!"

Teacher:  One at a time! ...You with the Goose poem, you first!

Old Mother Goose

Old Mother Goose when she wanted to wander,

Would fly through the air on a very Fine Gander.

Mother Goose had a house, 'twas built in the wood.

Where an owl at a door for sentinel stood.

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got, and home did trot as fast as he could caper,

Went to bed and plastered his head with vinegar and brown paper.

Old King Cole

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,

And a merry old soul was he;

He called for his pipes and he called for his bowl,

And he called for his fiddlers three!

Every fiddler he had a fine fiddle,

And a very fine fiddle had he;

"Twee-deedle-dee, tweedle-dee," went the fiddlers.

Oh, there's none so rare as can compare

With King Cole and his fiddlers three!

Wee Willie Winkie

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,

Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;

Rapping at the window, crying at the lock,

"Are all the children in their beds? For now it's Eight o'clock!"

There was an Old Woman

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket,

Seventeen times as high as the moon.

And where she was going, I couldn't but ask it,

For under her arms she carried a broom.

"Old woman, old woman, old woman!" said I, "Why are you flying up so high?"

"To sweep the cobwebs off the sky!"

"Shall I go with you?"

"Yes, by and by."

Hey, Diddle-diddle

Hey, diddle-diddle, the cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed to see such sight,

And the dish ran away from the spoon.

Student: That's a lotta poems! How many mother goose rhymes ARE there, anyway?

Teacher: There are over fifty of them! ...But we don't have time for THAT many poems today.

Student:  Good! These poems were all great, but I've had enough of 'em for one day.

"Wow! So those are Mother Goose Rhymes... Not bad!"

"But how are we gonna explain to our parents and peers that we've been reading PRESCHOOL poems in COLLEGE??"

"Actually, not all the mother goose rhymes were made for preschoolers. Some of them were made for adults!"

That's right! But before you go, there's one small homework assignment for you tonight:

Share your favorite Mother Goose rhyme with someone!

This way, other people will have the chance to celebrate Mother Goose Day, too. Ok? ...Ok! See you next time, class!