[sotd] The Reason Behind the Rhyme [April 17, 2014]
- From: "Site of the Day" <amholm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2014 06:18:17 -0700
Site of the Day for Thursday, April 17, 2014
The Reason Behind the Rhyme
Today's site, from National Public Radio's highly lauded All Things Considered
series, takes a look at the underpinnings of those universal nursery rhymes
that are part of English-speaking culture. Gentle Subscribers will find
interesting explanations of the history of these childhood rhymes.
"... death and cruelty. Chris Roberts, the author of Heavy Words Lightly
Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme, tells ... what lurks beneath the surface
of those verses we learned as children. ... 'Baa, Baa Black Sheep' is actually
a protest against taxation. Who knew? And 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'? It's about
King Henry VIII and his break from the Catholic Church." - from the website
This collection of interviews with London librarian and author Chris Roberts
conducted a number of years ago explores the surprising meanings which these
simple rhymes held for the ordinary citizen at the time of their creation. As
with most of NPR's valuable archives, complete text transcripts of the
interviews are available; the audio files can be listened to at the site as
well as downloaded in MP3 format for easy portable playback. Along with the
introductory interview with Mr. Roberts, additional conversations cover Yankee
Doodle, Rub-a-Dub-Dub, and Little Jack Horner.
Skip over to the site for the stories beneath the rhymes at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4933345
A.M. Holm
Comments? Suggestions? amholm@xxxxxxxxxxx
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