Children are naturally attracted towards the poetries and the rhythms and that is why their responses to the poetry are instinctive and innate. The relationship of children with the poetry starts in the mother’s womb when the child becomes familiar of the rhythm of mother’s heartbeat. The children always enjoy the rhythms and thus, they are hard-wired to the musical language. The rhythms of the mother’s heartbeat, songs, and poetry give pleasure to the children and that is why they enjoy the rhyme, rhythm, and repetition of words. Tony Harrison, a poet, pointed out that the scansion of the poetry unites the attention and that is why the babies rock with rhythm, lullabies, and other poetries. The attraction towards rhythm is a universal phenomenon and that is why the focus of the poetries of children is the rhythm and the repetition of words. The rhythm of the poetry not only attracts the children but also to the human being. Now, this study will evaluate that how the rhythm is important in the poetry of children and what are the other factors which contribute to the development of rhythm in the children’s poetry.
The best poetry says something that lasts. It leaves a footprint deep in the earth of what it means to be human.
Rhythms in poetry or lullabies amuse and pacify the child. Iona and Peter Opie are the scholars who showed in their studies that the children are highly attracted by the rhythms and that is what they exactly demand in poetries for them. Sometimes, the rhythm and the music of the poetries develop physical movement in the children, such as bumping of toddlers up and down. . The poetry is the expression of love, enhanced by the repetition of the rhythmic words. The child in the womb enjoys the heartbeat of mothers, after birth he enjoys the lullabies of his mother, as he grows he enjoys the poetry rhythm, and finally at 7 or 8 years, the child enter into the domain of the playground rhymes. This shows that the rhythm play a very effective role in the life of the children.
Poetry is an intense form of language, which may be either universal or personal. Poetry can derive the minds either to enlarge the sympathies or to help to develop better understanding. Poetry gives pleasure to the children and can offer them to insight about the different scenarios of being human. Poetry is another word of the expression of feelings, which provides a better way to give order to experience. Simply poetry is a power and poet can use it in any way. Especially, for the children, poetry is highly dependent on the selection of words by the poets and thus the children imbibe poetry from people who bring it some passion. However, the poetry may be different for the adults because they can understand the poetry lines, can write the new one, and can be bold readers of demanding poetry.
“Children imbibe poetry from people who bring to it some ease and passion … young people can be bold readers of rich and demanding poetry – and writers of it too – when they come to it as participants, rather than as passive consumers.”
The poetry and the rhythm of poetry matters a lot for the children because they are the one who are experiencing the world by the poetry words for the first time. That is why it will not be wrong to say that the children are a worthy audience for the poetry.
“For the child possesses by nature that valuable quality all adult artists seek to retain or regain: the ability of being able to view the world … as if for the first time … unblurred by time or experience or tact or expediency.”
The poetry and its rhythm is not only used by the children for the entertainment purpose but it can also be used by the religious writers to attract the children towards the religion. The children are highly attracted by the lullabies and after that they can be attracted by the religious poetry and its lyrical hymns at the Church. The best thing about Church is that it is not associated with either rich or poor children instead it is the place where everyone can experience the musical language on Sundays.
When the poetry is used for the religious purposes then the children are attracted towards the poetry, rhythm, and so they are attracted towards the religion. The children read the poetry and then understand that which gives them a vision of what religion is? However, initially in United Kingdom, the poets were not that much interested in the children poetries. With time, the importance of the poetry increased and thus the poets began to write the lullabies and other poetry lyrics for the children to give them a positive vision of the world and the existence of human beings. Now in UK, the authorities arrange the literary festivals and library events, in which they offer the poetry for the children. The purpose of this act is to get the children indulged in the reading and understanding of the lyrics written by the popular poets.
Morag, in her report about the poetry for the children, said that there must be some scales for the poetry of children. Every poet must be encouraged to write a rhythmic poetry for the children through which they will get approach towards the concepts of life. The appreciation and encouragement to the poetry is creation which may leave a very deep impact on the lives of the children. This is because through the charge of poetry’s rhythms, various colouration of language, configuration of words, and mingling the sense, children may feel profound connection with interior spaces, and can understand the wider links with the world.
In actual, the rhythmic lyrics of the children’s poetry represent the life in a beautiful way that the children will find a kind of life in itself. The rhythm of the poetry provides a self-sufficient delight to the children, which helps them to look forwards towards their future. Also, the poets can use different concepts to convey positive messages to the children which they should follow in their rest of the life. For example, nowadays it is our responsibility to take care of our planet, Earth, by growing the plants and by taking care of the cleanliness. Thus, different poets use this concept and make interesting, rhythmic poetries for them to give them awareness of the importance of growing plants and taking care of the planet in best possible way. Such concepts, when are transferred to the children once, remain in their mind forever. Poet Laureate is a new poet of the children’s poetry, who produces the best poetry for the children, making its readers howl with the laughter. His poetry makes the children able to think intensely about the human condition and nature of the wider world.
However, this is study is more about the rhythm of the poetry for children instead of discussing the importance of good poetry. When concerned about the importance of rhythms in the children’s poetry, there exist several reasons of why the rhythm is important for the children. When the children come in the learning phase then it is essential to attract them towards the story books and literature of the children. Reading big story books and learning the boring lines may be difficult for the children because it is not attractive in any way. However, when the poets write the poems for the children in the story telling manner with amazing rhythms then the poetry becomes excited for the children. This helps them to learn the stories in an attractive way. Most importantly, the toddlers enjoy to listen to the musical poems or rhythmic stories instead of focusing to the long stories. Long stories may divert the interest of the children towards other things and they may be distracted from the learning of new things. Thus, rhythm attracts the children and prepares them to learn the things about the world and to understand the new concepts to get ready for their future.
Thinking about the toddlers, the rhythm of the poetry helps them to understand the words, the sentence making, and the use of language. This means that the rhythm in the poetries of the children help them to develop their language learning skills. The more the child will be attracted towards the rhythm of the poetry, the early he will learn the poem and so he will learn the use of words in meaningful way. Even when considering the infants, the lullabies and its rhythm attracts the infant towards the language words. This helps them to get familiar to their language and the use of language. A serious conversation with toddler or the boring storytelling methodology can never help the child to learn the language and to understand the use of proper words in meaningful ways. Thus, the rhythm, music, and attractive poems make the children able to develop their language learning capabilities
When the children join schools, they cannot read the stories or poems like the adults. They need something to get attracted towards their books and course content. In this way the rhythmic poem help them. The teachers play the poems with music via which a rhythm is developed for the children. The children are encouraged to read the poems aloud with rhythm which creates an attraction in learning. Moreover, the rhythmic poems help the children to join their voices together and to read the poems aloud with great interest. This develops an activity; via which they children enjoy their time at school and began to learn poems, course content, and other knowledgeable things.
The rhythmic poems also develop a love for the book reading. When children enjoy reading the poems then they love to read more and more poems and thus they really enjoy reading poem books, to read them, and to understand them. This also enhances the book reading habit in the children. Nowadays very interesting poem books with audio and music are available. The children turns the pages of the poem book and an audio tape read the poem with rhythm and music via which the children understands the written words in the book and enjoys learning. This also develops an interest in the children to learn more from their poem books and to read more and more poems. Also, the audio helps them to realize that which poem must be read in which rhythm and this use of rhythm helps them to learn the wording and use language for that poem.
The most important and beneficial thing about the rhythmic poems is that the children enjoy reading the poems in rhythm and so they enjoy using words in a proper manners. This also enhances their vocabulary because in this way the children learn the meaning of new words and the appropriate use of that word. Thus the rhythmic poetry increases the children’s vocabulary and enhances their sense of using that vocabulary. The poetry lines and its rhythm also helps the children to go into their imagination world. When the teacher or the guardian sings the lullabies or poetries with a rhythm so children began to enjoy the rhythm by which they learn when to shake their body and when to jump. In the same way they began to enjoy the rhythm by which they began to understand the meanings of poetry and so they sketch a beautiful imaginative world in their mind. This enhances the positivity in the children. The rhythmic movements of the children also develop the co-ordination, and improve their motor skills. For example, when the teacher says “La, la, la , la, laaaaa….” The children follow the same sequence of the teacher and also they try to match their voices to make one sound. This develops co-ordination between the children. In the same way when teacher of the parent guide the children to move in a circle while saying “La, la, la, la, laaaaa,” then children learn how to use their motor skills with the rhythm
The rhythm of the children’s poetry is designed according to the ability to hear, identify, and recognize different words. The poetry singing develops an understanding with the pronunciation of the words and so the children enjoy speaking poetry lines in a rhythmic way, they learn the pronunciation of words, and then they understand the correct use of words. The children are attracted towards rhythm and so they read the poem again and again through which their memorizing capability increases. Children memorize the poetry lines, read them with rhythm, and in this way they do not get confuse with the words and the use of words. Also, poetry is a two way dealing; listening and speaking. These two ways of dealing contribute to the communication skills. Once the children learn the poems from their guardian or teachers then they sing that poem through which they understand when to listen and when to speak. Thus, it also develops a communication sense in the children.
When going back to the nineteenth century then there was no poetry written for the children in an expressive or rhythmic way. At that time the only poetry used for the children was the Holy verses. Different poets used these verses for different purposes, such as in Puritan period, the poetry verses were used to save the soul and in the Georgian period, poets used the verses to develop a good character. However, Boudreau (2016) discussed that the verses provided to the children at that time could not make their mind ready for the world. The verses were, no doubt, good for the character building but, somewhere, were not written for the children instead those verses could work better for the adults . After, 1806, poets realized that they need to write something interesting and rhythmic for the children which may attract them. Then the system of rhymes, storytelling and rhythmic poems started for the children and these poetries and stories for children have survived generations and generations and making history that one would never imagine if not through it. However, stories and poetries are the oldest form of narrative communication through which humans attempt to make sense of their lives as well as their histories. Thus, these stories and poetries, also, helped the children to imagine an interesting world, where they could learn about words, use of words, and way of communication. Moreover, the poetry for children is not just the combination of words instead every written poem for the children has a strong relation with any event from past. For example, the poem, Ba Ba Black Sheep, is about the medieval wool tax imposed by the King Edward in 13th century. At that time the King made a new rule, according to which tax of the wool was divided into three parts; one for the King, one for the Church, and one for the farmer .
The poetries and the stories for the children also represent the culture and the civilizations. Zipes (2012) discussed that the stories are written for the children to mould their minds according to the culture, society, and civilizations. European culture and traditions have been promoted via storybooks, fairytales, and toys. Fairytales and the poetries for children invite them to replicate them, and children design an imaginative world in which they began to consider them as a character of any fairytale and this develops a mannerism and civilization in their behaviour. Christopher highlights that mission of authors must be to write about diversities, imagination, and multiculturism. This will help children to understand their importance in their respective Worlds. It helps children to create their imaginative world in which they can understand who the girl is and how does she look, who the hero is and how does he act ?
The Emergence of Oral Tradition
As mentioned previously, civilisations survived centuries without having the skills and accessibility to paper and ink to record their memories from their past, occurrences from their daily life and even create literature. However, since Christ, there were always a man who had the skills to write and register one’s words. The Old Testament, for instance, recounts thousands of narratives about births, deaths, battles, punishments and even a collection of poems in Psalms. As Walter J. Ong states: ‘In an oral culture, knowledge, once acquired, had to be constantly repeated or it would be lost…’ , this emphasises the importance of not breaking the oral transmission. Through oral transmission, moral teachings and values were passed to illiterate people, which provided them the ability to imagine, create different perspectives and improve their ways of living. Furthermore, the epic narratives such as the Iliad or Odyssey by Homer , dated 8th century BC still remain extremely important to our history. The dramatic events were transmitted time to time by oral transmission, enabling uneducated civilisations from early age to experience art, the musicality of texts and have accessibility to information and culture.
But also those stories are told and retold in different ways so that they become ‘memes’ ideas and narratives repeated which acculturate and adapt, evolve and replicate It is thought that Iliad and Odyssey were firstly introduced through oral transmission, these narratives are composed of thousands of lines and they were all memorised by their poet. This shows that the poetries, for the children or the adults, were written with great honestly and hard work. Certainly, Poets those days had a very extend vocabulary and skills to transmit massive poems and all of this survived long periods of time without the need of technology or printed books.
But how does oral transmission contribute to one’s memory and culture? Rhyme and meter are present in our everyday speech, in our every routine, even when we don’t acknowledge it. For example, when looking at a cute baby then a rhythmic sound comes out of the mouth, “Aww,” and sometimes in the sad mode the word comes, “Alas!.” These rhythmic sounds are included in our everyday speech and even we do not notice it. Rhyme adds musicality and rhythm to a text, especially a recited poem; it gains life. Just like Konner’s, “The Evolution of Children,” which is about the interpretation of human development. In this book, the author tells that how universal characteristics and the cross-cultural characteristics growth from infancy to the adolescence became inherited of the human brain. Konner, in his book, explored that how the human takes a long time to grow up and which are the things which help them in the cognitive development, motor movement skills, and memorizing the things. He also discussed that what are the things which help the human brain to grow and socially interact?
His study concluded that writings play an essential role in dealing with the cognitive complexity of the person and for a cultural evolution. When the children read the poems and the storybooks then it makes their mind and helps them to imagine the things in the better way. In this way they got familiar to their society, world, and civilization. The children began to imagine a world in their mind which may be developed either positively or negatively, depending on the material they read. For example, the good poems and ethical stories guide them to live a better life and to help others. Especially, the children learn so much from their Nursery poems and storybooks, such as Superman always helps the people and so the children must do. However, the main issue is that how the children will be attracted towards these lesson learning poems or storybooks? And in this case rhythm proves to be helpful. Rhythm attracts the children and so they read the poems and learn the lessons from them. For example, in the poem “Baby, Baby, Yes Mamma,” the children are guided to always tell truth to their mothers. In the same way the storybooks are also written to give a positive imagination to the children via which they began to see the world with positive eyes.
Nursery rhymes for children are products of a society which envisioned teaching and passing on customs and manners through fables and narratives. Retelling stories and singing nursery rhymes has become a very old tradition. However, not all nursery rhymes are tradition because it is very hard to define the word, ‘Traditional.” Any rhymes can be tradition only if it continues for 30 to 40 years with great meanings and attraction of children. A traditional rhyme is what can be easily memorized and children love to read the verses of that rhyme. There exist many rhymes which were famous for a little time but then they disappeared, such rhymes cannot be considered as traditional rhymes. On the other hand, the rhymes like, “Hichory, Dickory, Dock,” “Jack and Jill,” and “Simple Simon,” are the nursery rhymes, which are written in traditional way and they continues for generations and so can be called the old traditional rhymes.
Children have, since ancient cultures, created their own versions of childhood within the limitations of what they have – they will ‘play’ in war zones, find toys in weapons and domestic materials and create cultures in adversity However, then the poets and the writers began to write interesting Nursery rhymes for the children to make their childhood more meaningful. Nursery rhymes attract the children and make them able to make an imagination world in their mind. That imagination world is full of excitement, joy, and emotions. If there were no nursery rhymes then, perhaps, they would never have experienced certain emotions and imagination. Moreover, singing and listening fables, jingles and songs contribute to their cultural development. Culture is integral to how we create our values and beliefs, how we think of ourselves or about the world.
It is important for the children to imagine the world in which they must develop a sense of how to interact with others and how to respect others’ beliefs. The nursery rhymes are the great avenue of such development in children because it helps them to build their views about the World, and engage them to grow their worldview according to their values and beliefs. Also, it won’t be wrong to say that beliefs and perspectives can be properly built in the childhood. One we move into the adulthood that it is really hard to change our perspectives about anything; religion, culture, beliefs, or concept of positivity . As Walter J. Ong explores in Orality and Literacy , the Holy Scripture is our first example of primary oral traditions with a high presence of additive words. Genesis’s first chapter for example, strongly emphasises how creation was formed in continuous form by the use of ‘and’ in almost every line:
‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said: Be light made. And light was made.’
Not unlike Abrahamic texts, people were also inclined to create and narrate their fables and nursery rhymes by using additive. Although originally written in Hebrew in the 6th century BC, it is visible that translators employed the additives (and) to keep with the flow of the narrative. For example, Cicero was the poet who translated the poems from homer, Greek, and Phanenomena of Aratus in to Georgics. His translation is criticized by many because of a little additive changing in the translation of poems, however, his work was appreciable because it influenced Virgil’s use of poem in the Georgics . Moreover, there exist many other poets or the authors, who changed the stories or the children rhymes during translation from one language to the other. For example, in Oranges and Lemons the nursery rhyme Aiken Drum highly demonstrates the presence of additive which adds an unceasing effect to the narrative:
- ‘There was a man lived in the moon, lived in the moon, lived in the moon,
- There was a man lived in the moon,
- And his name was Aiken Drum;
- And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle, a ladle,
- And he played upon a ladle,
- And his name was Aiken Drum,
- And his hat was made of good cream cheese, good cream cheese,
- good cream cheese,
- And his hat was made of good cream cheese, good cream cheese,
- good cream cheese,
- And his coat was made of good roast beef, good roast beef,
- good roast beef,
- And his coat was made of good roast beef, good roast beef,
- good roast beef …’
This above written rhyme was common in Scotland around 1821 . Moreover, Aiken Drum, about the Sheriffmuir battle in the Jacobite Rebellion, constantly use the word. ‘and,’ to maintain the rhythm of the poem, which shows that the rhythm in the rhymes of Schotland was maintained by using word, “And.” However, to maintain the rhythm of the poetry for children and to develop great interest from the listeners, it is essential to employ rhetorical device. Or in other words, the repetition of words maintains the rhythm of the poetry for the children and develops strong attraction. Repeated words are normally used to reinforce the key idea or ‘repetition is a central feature of amplification’. Another example of repetition is encountered in If All the Seas Were One Sea :
‘If all the seas were one sea,
What a great sea that would be!
If all the trees were one tree,
What a great tree that would be!
And if all the axes were one axe,
What a great axe that would be!
And if all the men were one man,
What a great man that would be!
And if the great man took the great axe,
And cut down the great tree,
And let it fall into the great sea,
What a splish-splash that would be!’
Although this nursery rhyme first appeared in 1842 and there is no information about its origins, it shows how the additive form was still functional in oral traditions and children’s books in that period.
In oral delivery, along with gestures and facial expressions, there must be a fluency and rhythm in the text so that audiences can fully enjoy the message. When a text is properly delivered in an interactive way, the audience will be able to pass it on, since its becomes impressive and easier to retell. When the rhyme is meaningful, interactive, attractive, and easily memorable then it passes from generation to generation and thus, it becomes a traditional rhyme. However, when the rhyme is not impressive or does not convey a meaningful message to the children then with time the rhyme is replaced by any other meaningful rhyme. Moreover, repetition makes mnemonics highly motivating to the memorization process in everyone’s minds. When the nursery rhymes are repeated again and again then the repetition of words, ideas, and skills in the rhyme creates a secure foundation for early learning. When the rhyme is repeated then the children remember is permanently which become the part of their childhood memory.
When they grow up and see their youngers again reading they rhyme, it refresh that rhyme in their minds. Thus, the repetition of rhymes for years keeps it refreshing and attractive for not only children but also for the adults, even for the old age people. Plus, repetition influences people to create other versions and extend the primary rhymes. When the children read the nursery rhymes then it develops their thinking approaches and when these children grow up and reach to their adulthood then they get impressed by seeing their youngers reading the same rhymes. Thus, some of them get highly impressed by the impact of poetry for children and rhymes on their lives. Such people start writing new poetries, some of which become famous and highly influential on the children’s cognitive as well as mental development. Thus, such poetries or rhymes become famous and traditional with time .
In nursery rhymes, sounds are commonly known for carrying a pattern, called rhymes. In the rhyme, every word creates a sound and that sound can make a proper rhythm which not only attract the children but also entertain them. For example, “Baa, baa, black sheep” is a poem in which word, Baa, and word, Sheep, are used in a proper and rhythmic sound, which attract the children and develops a language sense in them. Also, the nursery rhyme fills the colours in children’s life. For example, when children read any poem, they imagine the characters in their mind. This helps them to sketch an imagination world, in which either positive or negative concept can be developed in their mind. Rhyming shows children how language functions. It helps them notice and work with the sounds within words. When children read “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep,” they imagine a sheep in their mind having wool at its back. Similarly “Ringa Ringa Roses,” gives a concept of playing fairies, which gives a positive concept of playing together, respecting each other, and developing good friendship environment. Thus, the nursery rhymes helps the children to develop a positive, moral, and socialization concept. Once children become familiar with the rhyming pattern of a text (such as a nursery rhyme), they automatically anticipate the rhyming word. These predictions strengthen their reading skills.
The most common rhyme appear by the end of each line in a poem, which means, the last stressed vowel in the sentence will get the emphasis and create a rhyming pattern an end rhyme, in other word, which follows the iambic stress pattern. Normally monosyllables are as known as masculine rhymes, such as rat/cat in This is the House That Jack Built song:
‘This is the cat,
That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built ’.
When there are two syllables (disyllable) as danger/stranger, letter/better, it is called feminine rhyme found in the Sneeze on Monday: But it’s not just about the number of syllables it’s also about the stress patterns – unstressed endings are feminine
‘Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,
Sneeze on Wednesday, receive a letter,
Sneeze on Thursday, something better …’
Rhyming pairs (each last word from two lines) are known as rich rhyme or full rhyme; the consonants are identical even if their spellings differ dock/clock in Hickory, Dickory, Dock:
‘Hickory, dickory, dock
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock .’
The imperfect rhyme is also known as half rhyme or near rhyme, it creates a different range of pattern of sounds in the poem. This gives a certain freedom to the poem. Imperfect rhymes presents two words that almost fully carry similar sounds in the end of the lines, such as buttons/ribbons in Oh Dear, What Can The Matter Be?:
‘He promised to buy me a pair of sleeve buttons,
A pair of new garters that cost him but two pence,
He promised he’d bring me a bunch of blue ribbons,
To tie up my bonny brown hair .’
On the other hand, the internal rhyme is normally found within the text and between syllables in the same line. These rhymes are often used to amplify the meaning of words in a poem and create a different sound pattern, something more unexpected since rhyming couplets are commonly seen in many poems. However, such patterns are being used to develop meanings of the rhyme. In Hark, Hark, the Dogs Do Bark for instance, we have internal rhymes in lines 1 (hark/bark) and 4 (rags/tags):
‘Hark, hark, the dogs do bark,
The beggars are coming to town,
Some in rags and some in tags,
And one in velvet gown.’
This rhyme, although, does not consist of similar ending words, or the words creating same sounds, but the purpose of rhyme is to develop a sense in the children’s mind. This poem gives a message to the children that the dog always bark on the beggars, either they are in rags, tags, or velvet gown. This means that the person cannot hide his character by his appearance. The dog will bark at the bagger in any case, either he is wearing a velvet gown or the rag. Thus, this rhyme gives a lesson to the children that they must tell the truth and must not try to adopt any fake appearance to hide their realities. Moreover, all different rhymes deliver great musicality which can be perceived by children and adults when singing along. Another common feature about nursery rhymes is metre. Metre is the mechanical feature that emphasises the sounds which words carry. According to the Dictionary of Literary Terms metre is ‘the pattern of measured sound-units recurring more or less regularly in lines of verse .’ Metre is essential to nursery rhymes since they are the rhythmic part of them. While rhymes bring musicality and life, metre organises these sounds.
In English language metre is normally known as accentual-syllabic metre which is mostly found in every English verse. There are different types of metre in the English language and they are named after the amount of feet/stress/unstressed, which syllables resemble. The length of a metrical line as dimeter (two feet), trimester (three feet), tetrameter (four feet), pentameter (five feet), hexameter (six feet) and heptameter (seven feet). In nursery rhymes we also normally find various types of metre, for example, in Humpty Dumpty there are four stressed syllables in the first two lines (tetrameter) as follows:
‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses,
And all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.’
Meter basically, develops a rhythm in the verses of the poem for the children which is then used to attract the children and to develop their interest in reading the poems and learning the lessons. This study has aimed to highlight the importance of the rhythm in the poetry of the children and that is why it become essential to discuss the importance of meter. For example in the poem, All The King’s Men, Richard Rodney Bennett used the function of a tetrameter to develop a rhythmic sounds like horses marching. This old rhyme is about an incident that took place during the Civil War in England, in which Charles I employed Dr. Chillingworth to build a machine so they could overcome their enemies.
Then, Dr. Chillingworth decided to build something that resembled a similar machine that the Romans used, called ‘tortoise’. The design of this machine was round to roll down the steep slope on wheels, cross the bridge over River Severn and cover way over the walls of the city, so the King’s men could enter safely. The tetrameter makes the rhythm more like into a knightly thing, almost making its sounds turning into mounted troops. Thus, these emphasised stresses contribute to the reader’s imagination, especially children. Thus, the rhyme and sounds emphasize but also tell the story alongside the semantics. The tetrameter pattern when once introduced becomes easy to follow. Furthermore, the presence of fall/wall in couplets supports the mnemonic function of nursery rhymes. Although the third line comes after a short break, it can be easily identified as internal rhyme, for the third line begins stressing all which keeps the flow from the previous word in the second line, wall. The forth line keeps emphasizing that all the king’s horses and men could not help putting the machine back in one piece. Internal rhymes such as all and kings ease the rhythm of the lines. For instance, the pronunciation of all followed by the K sound (as in kings) highlight plosive sounds. By repeating these two middle lines twice, the reader can recall imagery and sound according to the content of the rhyme. Clearly, these are examples of successful mnemonics present in old rhymes. They all contribute to the process of learning, memorizing and retelling.
Rhythms in poetry or lullabies amuse and pacify the child. The child in the womb enjoys the heartbeat of mothers, after birth he enjoys the lullabies of his mother, as he grows he enjoys the poetry rhythm, and finally at 7 or 8 years, the child enter into the domain of the playground rhymes. Children’s poetry or nursery rhymes are the expression of feelings, which provides a better way to give order to experience. The rhythm of the poetry provides a self-sufficient delight to the children, which helps them to look forwards towards their future.
Thus, different poets use this concept and make interesting, rhythmic poetries for them to give the children awareness of the importance of growing plants and taking care of the planet in best possible way. Moreover, the rhythm of the poetry helps them to understand the words, the sentence making, and the use of language. This means that the rhythm in the poetries of the children help them to develop their language learning skills. Also, the rhythmic poems also develop a love for the book reading, increase the children’s vocabulary, and enhance their sense of using that vocabulary. The rhythm of the children’s poetry is designed according to the ability to hear, identify, and recognize different words. Thus, it helps the children to learn the pronunciation of words, and then they understand the correct use of words. Furthermore, the rhymes help the children to imagine an interesting world, where they can think about the world either in positive or negative way, depending on the lyrics and rhythm of the rhyme. Conclusively, the rhythm in the children’s poem plays an essential role in the development of children’s motor movements, language learning, cognitive function, morality, socialization, and positive imagination about the World.
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