There are numberless rhymes in English language and these are read throughout the world. I think , there was not any particular purpose in the creation of these rhymes or may be, the rhymers had thought deeply before they penned these little verses. Probability is also there that the rhymers wrote these out of sheer fun or for entertainment and amusement of the children. Whatever it may be, now I want to rethink and dive deep into these little ones with a view to searching some pearls from these sea of rhymes. Herein below some rhymes are mentioned and discussed with some philosophic interpretations.
Rhyme Number (1) Thank you, dear God,
For sleep through the night.
Thank you, dear God,
For the glad morning light.
From a child's point of view :
It is a rhyme and it is obviously popular to the children who chant it and have a great fun.They simply know that the night is for sleeping. As it is night they leave the books , the root of pressure from the part of the superiors, and enjoy the fun of blissful bed. Naturally, they thank God. Again, they thank God in the morning as the darkness of the night is no more, it is the time of fearlessness. Besides, playing and gamboling on their part will start soon in the new morning light.
Rethinking and discussion :
We are not ready to hurt the tender mind and feeling of the children. For the sake of discussion we may rethink the rhyme with profundity and discover some philosophical taste in this quatrain. The little child does not know the limitless benediction in 'sleep'. From Macbeth ,written by Shakespeare, I would mention few lines regarding the matter of 'sleep'. Here sleep is called 'innocent'.
Sleep is like refreshing bath after hard labour and it is a sort of comfort for anguished mind. It is like a nourishing dish and in the feast of life sleep is very vital and strength-giving item. A great gift from the great 'Nature' is the innocent sleep. The expression " glad morning light " brings about some grave meaning. Actually one would be lucky enough if one gets chance to witness the next morning. It means that in God's grace we are alive.
Rhyme Number (2) Baa,baa, black sheep*,
Have you any wool ?
Yes sir, yes sir.
Three bags full ;
One for my master,
One for his dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
From a child's point of view :
Lamb, sheep, goat etc. are very favourite to the children.Here the sheep is with black woolly coat. The child knows that a sheep does have wool and out of curiosity he/she asks the sheep if he has some wool.The spontaneous answer is that he has three bags of wool. He also informs the child that one bag is for his master and one for the mistress. The third bag is for the little boy who lives down the gut or the narrow road. The answer is a little bit informative to the child. I seem the child is satisfied.
Rethinking and discussion :
A child may be satisfied with the answer but a cogitative mind wants to say something more. A philosophical discussion brings some rays of God in the very first line of the rhyme. In William
Blake's poem The Lamb God equates himself with 'Lamb' and 'Child'. Lamb is the baby sheep. Naturally, God is somehow addressed in the first line. In the fourth line we find the figure 'three bags' , neither two bags nor four . The word 'three' reminds us of the " trinity of God " - a famous christian doctrine - 'Father', 'Son' and 'Holy Spirit'. The 'little boy' mentioned here is none other God according to the christian belief. The bags of wool kept by the black sheep are not for men only, but for God also.
* 'Black sheep' is also an idiomatic expression which means ' the member of the family or a group who brings disgrace'. In this rhyme the 'Black sheep' is a meek creature (sheep) with back woolly coat.
Rhyme Number (3) Twinkle twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky !
From a child's point of view :
It is often happens that the little child is taken to open yard to make him/her look at the sky with a view to seeing the moon (Chandamama in Bengali.) He/She chances to see numberless of stars twinkling in the sky, all are giving light from a measureless high position. Each and every star, all stars, are like a little diamond blazing in the open atmosphere.The child is still and wonders.
Rethinking and discussion :
What a child says in this rhyme is about a natural phenomena but an adult person may rethink it another way. The mental state of a human being may be taken as the sky. Various faculties ,various conceptions and ideas infest in the mind's sky of human beings. The qualities of human beings are always twinkling in the mental sky of them. We wonder how do they exist and what a sensation do they exert every now and then like the stars in the sky. As the stars are not always seen,particularly in day time,the faculties of human minds are not always felt as they sometimes lay dormant in the deeper region of the mind. The sky is so up above our head,the mind's depth is in the same way fathomless. The good quality or perception of man
shines brightly like a diamond,as the star in sky.
