Archive for the 'Rhymes about the Seasons' Category
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Does Anyone Know a Short Poem or Rhyme about Spring?
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009Rebeca Garcia Mendoza wrote
Hi! I’m a Spanish girl who is preparing resources to teach English to Spanish children. I’m looking for rhymes about seasons and I have a problem. I cannot find a short one of Spring.
If anybody knows one, please, tell me!
Thanks.If anyone can help out Rebeca, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
PS FYI I did find this nursery rhyme riddle about all the seasons:
In Spring I look gay,
Decked in comely array,
In Summer more clothing I wear;
When colder it grows,
I fling off my clothes,
And in Winter quite naked appear.Scroll down for the answer..
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A tree!In April’s Sweet Month: A Nursery Rhyme
Sunday, April 5th, 2009Here’s a sweet little nursery rhyme about April, that can be found in The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (c. 1843)…
In April’s Sweet Month
Nursery RhymeIn April’s sweet month,
When the leaves ‘gin* to spring,
Little lambs skip like fairies
And birds build and sing.*begin
Enjoy the delights of Springtime!
Mama Lisa
A Daffodil Ditty
Thursday, March 30th, 2006Yesterday I saw the first daffodils of the season. It made me think of an old English rhyme, which goes…
Daffy-down-dilly is new come to town,
With a yellow petticoat and a green gown.An alternative version is…
Daffy-down-dilly is new come to town,
With a petticoat green, and a bright yellow gown,
And her white blossoms are peeping around.Seeing daffy-down-dilly used for daffodil, made me curious about the word. I looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary and found all of these variants of daffodil…
Affodil
Daff
Daffy
Daffadilly
Daffodilly
Daffydowndilly
Daffadowndilly
Daffodowndilly
DaffadoondillyThen there’s also the word daffying, that dates back to 1871, which means to gather daffodils.
Whatever you’re doing this season, I hope you get to see some lovely daffy-down-dillies. It’s a wonderful sign that it’s springtime!
Lisa
Nursery Rhymes and Proverbs about March
Friday, March 17th, 2006March brings breezes loud and shrill,
To stir the dancing daffodil.March comes in like a lion
And goes out like a lamb.Sometimes it’s reversed…
March comes in like a lamb
And goes out like a lion.A March sun sticks
Like a lock of wool.There’s an old belief that if March is dry and dusty, there will be a better crop…
A bushel of March dust is worth a King’s ransom.
A fair March is worth a king’s ransom.
A dry March and a wet May
Fill barns and bays with corn and hay.A peck of March dust and a shower in May
Makes the corn green and the fields gay.March water is worse
Than a stain in cloath*.*That seems to be an obsolete spelling of cloth.
Here are happy ones to consider when you’re stuck inside because of the coming Spring rain…
March winds and April showers
Bring forth May flowers.And…
In beginning or in end
March its gifts will send.Be joyful, it’s almost Spring!
Lisa
Looking for a Spring Song
Friday, March 17th, 2006Bill wrote me…
In the 50s, in Montreal, girls used to celebrate Spring with skipping ropes and elastics. While playing the elastic game they sung a “ditty” that went somewhat like this…
Yolem a Kaiser,Yokem addiay….
Do you know what I am referring to?
Bill Conrod
If anyone is familiar with this ditty, please comment below.
I also welcome other songs and poems celebrating Spring.
-Lisa
Candlemas and Groundhog Day on February 2nd
Sunday, January 29th, 2006Groundhog Day, the popular American holiday, has it’s roots in the European holiday Candlemas.
Both seem to have developed from an ancient Celtic festival called Imbolc. Imbolc festivities involved lighting fires, in part in honor of Brigid, the Goddess of fertility, love and fire. Imbolc also celebrated the fact that the days would become longer and the sun stronger over the next few months.
Candlemas, Groundhog Day and Imbolc are all celebrated at the mid point between the Winter Solstice and the first day of Spring. They all involve the hope of good weather for the next 6 weeks… the remainder of winter.
I suppose this is why pancakes and crepes are the preferred foods for Candlemas… they’re round and yellow, like the longed for sun.
If you’ve ever wondered why it’s hard to remember how the weather on this day predicts the weather for the rest of the winter, it’s because all of the Candlemas and Groundhog Day sayings are counterintuitive. They say that if the weather is nice on February 2nd the rest of the winter will be colder, more severe. If the weather on the 2nd is crummy, the rest of the winter is supposed to have nice weather.
As for the groundhog, if he sees his shadow, that means it’s a sunny day on February 2nd and the myth is that the rest of the winter will be colder. So we all hope he will not see his shadow and that February 2nd will have miserable weather!
For Christians, Candlemas is the day that candles are blessed in churches. Another symbol of fire! So people put lit candles in their windows in honor of the day.
Lastly, this day is called the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. It was believed that after giving birth women were unclean. They had to be purified 40 days after their child was born. Thus Candlemas is 40 days after Jesus was born, when Mary would have been purified.
Here are some rhymes and proverbs for Candlemas and groundhog day…
If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flightIf on Candlemas Day it be shower and rain,
Winter is gone and will not come again.If Candlemas Day be damp and black,
It will carry cold winter away on its back.If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There’ll be two winters in the year.If the groundhog sees his shadow
We will have six more weeks of Winter.
If he doesn’t see his shadow,
We will have an early Spring.Groundhog Day Half your Hay
(Meaning you’d better have half of your hay left to feed the animals, because you’re only half-way through the winter)
Happy Candlemas and Happy Groundhog Day!
Lisa
Occitan Saying about the End of the Year
Thursday, December 29th, 2005Monique Palomares at Mama Lisa’s World en français sent me this Occitan saying about the end of the year. (Occitan was the language of the Troubadours.)…
“Per santa Luça lo jorn creis d’un pè de puça, per Nadal d’un pè de gal, per l’An Nòu d’un pè de buòu.”
“For St. Lucy, the day lengthens by a flea’s pace, for Christmas by a rooster’s pace, for New Year’s by an ox’s pace.”
Monique wrote, “…this saying was true before Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar on October 15th 1582. At that time St. Lucy’s was on December 23th (after the solstice). On December 23rd, the sun sets 1 minute later than on December 21st. On December 25th the sun sets two minutes later and on January 1st it sets eight minutes later (at 50° North latitude).
Many thanks to Monique and Mr. Palomares for this Occitan saying.
Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Occitan Page for Occitan songs.
St. Thomas’s Day on the Winter Solstice
Wednesday, December 21st, 2005St. Thomas’s Day is for Doubting Thomas, who was the last apostle to believe in Jesus’ resurrection. His day is on December 21st, usually the winter solstice and the darkest day of the year. St. Thomas’s Day is on this day because he remained in the dark the longest.
Here’s a nursery rhyme about St. Thomas Day…
St. Thomas Grey, St. Thomas Grey,
The longest night and the shortest day.And here’s one you can say for a couple of days after St. Thomas’s Day…
St. Thomas’s day is past and gone,
And Christmas is a-most a-come,
Maidens arise
And make your pies,
And save poor tailor Bobby one.Some Nursery Rhymes about December, Wintertime and Christmas
Thursday, December 15th, 2005Here are some Mother Goose rhymes about December…
Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire and Christmas treat!___
When December snow falls fast,
Marry, and true love will last.___
The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor Robin do then?
Poor thing.He’ll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing.
Poor thing.___
More nursery rhymes about the winter season coming soon!
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