, 1874-08-02
E50TnER GOOSE IN LITERATURE.

There are two OF the same family celebrated
in public and song,-"Tho Goose that laid the
Golden Egg" and Mother Goose. The fable Of
the bird teaches us q practical lesson, but We
claim that s. The Melodies OF Mother Goose ~
have had a wider influence upon the literary
world than any other work since the timo Of
Shakespeare.
It is, for the most part, an unacknovledyed in
huence. AS NC grow old and dlguiled, VIC have
wonderful way OF forgetting our childhood's
ditties. But, if We will follow our love for poe
try and song back to the fountain-head, VIC will
find that it generally springs from the running,
rippling rhymes crooned and caro!od again and
again by loving mothers ead aunties, as they
hushed US, and trottcd US. and sung us, to sleep.
The poet or maa OF lotte:s rarely cares to
trace his inspiration back to Euch d jingle as
Dickory, d;ckory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock, &C.,
though Pope does sny that " He lispcd in num-
bcrs. and the numbers came"
But, ignore it as ho may, the finest produc-
tions OF our modern poet are full OF tho echoes
OF nurscry-songe. In many Cases lie has dono
but little more than to continue the lines that
fell upon his ears in tho days OF helpless infancy.
Somebody, somewhere, century Ego, more or
less. arranged this "Old Nurse-Boo1 OF Rhymes,
11uslc5s Au4 DItt!ts, hHl bAft Nv W lu6 hOl14
as Mother Goose's Melodies.
Whether tho writer chose this nou,-de-p plume
as g tribute Of respect to the bird from whose
plumage she pluckcd the quill with which to
write the book, VIC cannot say. Who when, or
where makes little difference. Only We pity
those poor little children F. ho were born away
buck in the dark ages. and who never - Patty
caked,'' or rode to - Eanbnry Cross"
We are glad that our lines fell to us in pleas
{{,n& Isnr
tage of Mother Goose: for We love her merry
rhymes, just because they are 60 nonsensical, ind
simple, and silly.
We unconsciously compare all metres and
melodies with her measures, and arc panied or
pleased rs they clash or chime with our child
hoods ideal.
Tho music in '4How docs the water come
down ut Lodoro" iB caused by the same rhythm
that flows in - Peter Piper picked peck Of
picked peppers" and
Thcre was crooked man, and he went crooked milo;
Lie found crooked ei1Ience against crooked stle-
Longfellow il eaid to have given to the world
a new verse when he wrote - Hiawatha." But
DO re not find something quito as unique In tho
following:
There was fat man Of Bombay,
Who was smoking sunshiny day,
When q bird called su!ua
Flew away with his pipe,
Which ve1ei the fat nlan Of Bombay?
Then, too, ne find in this inimtable collection
all varieties OF style and composition. " Sing i
song OF si4peuce " is p!ay perfect in oil its
parts. Jack and Jill " is 4 finished drama.
:.Ding, dong, goes the bell" is highly trag-
ical. ''The tnEee wise men OF Gotham, VINO
went to sea in boEi, rings out like 4 prophecy.
"Hush-2-bye. baby, on the tree-top," Ii an allie
CORY; while :. Sung, sing, what shall sing !" is
pure lyric.
Wo know that Dickens was conversant NTH
Mother Goose. In Sam Wclle1'B eaylngB, Ta
hear only an echo Of
1iucrnr veal and ycufEGn.
Are VERY good whites, VOW.
The trials Of Sir Peter, in ShcriGan's celebrated
''Echool for Scandal, are nothing compared with
the sorrows TINT wrung tho heart Of the BACH
elor vino lived by himself" aud who went to
London to buy him d wife, as, in that fa:a1 fall,
Down came wheclbarrow, wife, and all.
Jcau InseIow, before writing " Tho Songs Of
Seven,' must have heard, "One, two: buckle my
shoe" etc.
Sometimes, in reading Mrs. Browning'a poems,
we fail to SEQ the connection; ont Is It not
equally the case in
Tn she goes and down she goes;
nyou haren't any apples, III give vou some plurns7
Addison. in his famous "EseayB upon the I'M
agiuation," fails to account Tor any such lights
Us
Hey d;ddle diddle,
Tho cats In the fiddle, etc.
Mother Goose contains the germ OF al our
modern modes of tlought. The mass OF the
story-tellers OF the day write upon this plan:
I'll tell YOU story
About Jack and Nory,
And now ry sorys begun:
I'll tell you another
Abou: Jack and his brother,
and now my stosy is done,
Books Of travel are but repetition Of,
Puesy cat, p,1ssy cat where have yen been7
Two been to London, to visit the QUEEN
All the dissertations upon domestic economy
do not express the subject more neatly than the
lines about Jack Sprat and his wife"
1ne yay il which many Of our large orphan |
asylun,s are conducted is Illustrated in the e1-
peEience OF
Tao old woman who lived in shoe:
She had Eo many children she didn't Know mat to do
C,. -v,-o flor, soma hrotf, y-tl,l1it UrC1u.