Poems

Hear What Ma’am Goose Says!

Mother Goose 1806 – 
 
 
 

My dear little Blossoms, there are now in this world, and always will be, a great many grannies beside myself, both in petticoats and pantaloons, some a deal younger, to be sure, but all monstrous wise and of my own family name. These old women, who never had chick or child of their own, but who always know how to bring up other people’s children, will tell you with long faces that my enchanting, quieting, soothing volume, my all-sufficient anodyne for cross, peevish, won’t-be-comforted little bairns, ought be laid aside for more learned books, such as they could select and publish. Fudge! I tell you that all their batterings can’t deface my beauties, nor their wise pratings equal my wiser prattlings; and all imitators of my refreshing songs might as well write another Billy Shakespeare as another Mother Goose—we two great poets were born together, and shall go out of the world together.


No, no, my melodies will never die,
While nurses sing, or babies cry.


 

 
Analysis (ai): The poem asserts a self-aware, defiant maternal voice, positioning the speaker as a timeless repository of wisdom and cultural continuity. It resists the encroachment of intellectual elites by celebrating oral tradition and nursery rhyme as legitimate forms of knowledge.
Historical Context: Written under the pseudonym associated with 17th-century folklore, the poem reflects anxieties about literacy, education, and the displacement of folk wisdom by formal learning. Unlike typical nursery rhymes, it takes on a metafictional tone uncommon for its attributed era.
Form and Structure: The mix of prose and two-line verse blends didactic and lyrical modes, disrupting generic boundaries typical of children’s literature at the time. This hybrid form anticipates modernist blending of narrative and poetry.
Comparison to Other Works: Unlike the author’s shorter, plot-driven rhymes, this piece foregrounds authorial identity and cultural defense, marking a rare moment of self-reflection in an otherwise anonymous corpus.
Engagement with Modern Concerns: Post-1900, the poem reads as a proto-feminist reclaiming of marginalized female voices, especially those dismissed as childish or irrational. It critiques institutional knowledge by elevating domestic, maternal language.
Less-Discussed Angle: Rather than reading it as a simple defense of tradition, the poem can be seen as parodying the very idea of literary lineage, especially in its absurd equation of Mother Goose with Shakespeare—an ironic commentary on canon formation.

Mother Goose

1806 –
 

Mother Goose is a character that originated in children’s fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. The character also appears in a pantomime tracing its roots to 1806.

About Mother Goose
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