Now is not the Rhyme. » Nursery Rhyme

Comment section ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Miles Benson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:57:41 +0000

Regular commenters of NINTR may have already noticed, but not understood, the cartoon depiction of Adam and Eve in the form fields for the comment section…

Well, if, you read the line preceding the comment section: “YOU ARE FREE, YOU HAVE A VOICE, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SNEAK…SO, FOR GOD’S SAKE…SPEAK!” which links to the following post: The Secret History of the Nursery Rhyme! you would understand.

But I added the depiction there because I felt as though it was appropriate for the comment section to highlight and allude to a nursery rhyme that specifically addresses freedom of speech. Paying homage in a way and strengthening the theme of the blog by allowing people to comment on the things that I post and displaying that image.

Also, in regards to comments, I found a nifty little bit of code that enables the display of “Most Commented on Posts.” Honestly, it’s really cool, but, I don’t get as many comments as I’d like so the five that are there will probably stay there for a while. But whatever you can do to get people to read more, the better. Check it out, it’s on the right over there →

Drop caps, not bombs

Miles Benson — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:04:28 +0000

After I created the post “The Secret History of the Nursery Rhyme!” I got inspired to create drop caps for all of my posts!

For me, drop caps have always been synonymous with old scripture and nursery rhymes. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, my whole theme revolves around nursery rhymes.

So I thought it would be appropriate to start putting drop caps at the beginning of all my posts if my theme is going to emulate nursery rhymes.

Cool, no?

(If you’re using an RSS reader, please go to the actual post to see)

The Secret History of the Nursery Rhyme!

Miles Benson — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:54:13 +0000

Inspired by the man from this story in this book, I’ve decided to expose the origins and hidden messages of nursery rhymes and other fun and “innocent” things I loved as a child. Because the older I get, the more I find out that the things I loved as a kid were not as innocent as they seemed. They had hidden messages and agenda’s!

So to begin a new Now is not the Rhyme segment called:

Rhyme-killer
we’ll start with the reason why nursery rhymes exist in the first place…behold…

The Secret History of the Nursery Rhyme!

by Miles Benson

Nursery rhymes reflected actual events in history

The meanings have been lost to the passing of time
So many remain a mystery
But like a sketch by Improveverywhere
they spread their subversive messages without care

But we do know that
In a time without freedom to speak
To be free, to have voice, one had to sneak

To parody royalty and a political event
One must rhyme to speak their dissent!

Since education was sparse in days of yore
The short and easy to remember rhymes
made education easier than the street corner whore

You say you want to know about the rhyme that sparked a revolution?
Well you know
It of course was the one that called for class equality and recognition

“When Adam delved and Eve span
Who was then a gentleman”

During the Bubonic Plague, the peasants of England realized their importance on the economy
So they took to the streets to make people realize their isonomy
Which, for those of you that don’t know, means, equality

The meaning behind this rhyme so to ensure you will not misconceive:
Delve means to work, Span means to spin yarn
and Gentleman refers to a lack of class distinction in the days of Adam and Eve

That was the rhyme that begun
The Peasants Revolt of 1381!

So there you have it,
Nursery rhymes were loop holes
to say things the law would not permit.

The Bubonic Plague,
its symptoms, and it’s posey
was parodied in Ring around the Rosy…

English Queen Mary,
and her instruments of torture
was parodied in Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary…

As early as 1570
Nursery Rhymes began to be printed
and thusly able to be passed on to future generations aplenty