Poetry Revival Posts ?

Which of the following looks familiar?

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Twinkle, twinkle, little star. …

Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Row, row, row your boat. …

Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. …

Wheels On The Bus. …

Old Mac Donald Had A Farm. …

Incy, Wincy Spider. ..

Some of them? All of them?

Fun exercise: Try and recite them just to test how good your memory is

If you are a young parent, chances are that you know all of them.

If you have grown-up kids, try and recall how your kids recited these when they were toddlers.

Each of them had their unique pronunciations and accompanying actions, didn’t they?

Was that your daughter who scratched her head as she tried to recite, ‘Johny, Johny! Yes Papa!’?

Or was that your son scratching his bum, as he twisted his brains to recall, ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill’?

Chances are that you did it too, when you were kids…the scratching bit!

Nothing much has changed!

Even today when a baby starts talking, after the essential words like Mamma and Papa or its equivalents (that boost our ego) followed by Tata (that enhances the brand value my Company) and some other such seemingly life-saving words, these are usually the rhymes that we teach the kids, if it is English.

Other languages too have its equivalent.

These simple, extremely enjoyable rhymes are basically poems that have lived through generations and are as relevant today as they were then.

Rhymes made the infant a singer

Rhymes opened our eyes to wonder

Rhymes made it easy for the toddler.

Rhymes made the brain remember.

Poems were a part of our growing up.

Poems were easier on the tongue. Poems were easier on the mind.

Poetry encouraged curiosity and the child-like wonder.

Poetry was accompanied by appropriate gestures, thereby developing motor skills

Poetry laid the foundation for the faculty of speech.

Yet, once the foundation was laid, we moved on to speak in prose, which is but the natural progression.

Prose does have its beauty. Prose does have its purpose

Poetry cannot be the medium of normal communication. Or can it be?

I wonder, was it the entry of prose in our lives which made our language “prosaic” which literally refers to anything considered matter-of-fact or ordinary, having synonyms such as “colorless,” “drab,” “lifeless,” and “lackluster.”

“Prose is to poetry as walking is to dancing” said the French poet, essayist, and philosopher

Through these series of posts, I am trying to revive the interest in poetry. I am encouraging you to relook at poetry, perhaps with a little less of intolerance and a little more of affection (whatever is applicable to your equation with poetry presently). I am learning, reading and appreciating poetry much more and please do feel free to add and comment.