Nursery Rhyme

[Silas Thorne]

This is the boy that Jack built.

This is the blood that pumps in the chest of the heart of the boy that Jack built.

This is the skin made for healing fast
That covers a mind that was made to last,
Which severs connection with death and the past,
Containing an empire rich and vast,
That holds the plans that build the boy that Jack built.

[Hawkman]

This is delightful, Silas. Not only that, but somehow I feel it it is wonderfully subversive. Great fun, with not a step out of place :)

Live and be well - H

[blank|verse]

An intriguing poem, Silas, that perhaps demands to be a lot longer, given the form it's based on. You may know there was a version of the poem, 'The Political House that Jack Built' by William Hone (I think), illustrated by George Cruickshank, produced after the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in 1819. So it certainly has 'subversive' connotations, Hawk! A lot can be inferred from the mention of 'empire'.

Apart from thinking it should be longer, I thought the phrase 'the chest of the heart' tautological, and the line 'the plans that build the boy that Jack built' a bit clumsy. But it's thought-provoking nonetheless.

[Hawkman]

I'm not sure I agree with b/v on his assessment of Tautology. I read it as meaning container, like Davy Jone's, dead man's chest in the film :). but perhaps it would have been less confusing as, "...heart of the chest..."

LLAP H

[YesNo]

I think the last line should be something like "to build the boy" rather than "that build the boy"--or maybe "that built the boy". Reminds me of your thread on transcending death through technology.

[firefangled]

You bring back very distant memories with this one. A very nice twist on the original, Silas. It was and yours is one of my favorites.

I first read The House That Jack Built in Collier's Junior Classics. I may have been 4. I remember and always puzzled at:

This is the cow with the crumpled horn
that tossed the dog that worried the cat
that killed the rat that ate the malt
that lay in the house that Jack built.

[Delta40]

Agree with Firefangled. Only your version is much more interesting for the adult reader.

[qimissung]

It's one of those seemingly simple poems at first glance, then one comes back for the second thought. Good one.

[Silas Thorne]

Thank you everybody for reading and commenting!

b/v: Yes, you are quite right, it should be longer. I'll keep working on it. I will endeavour to fix aspects of it too in later revisions. :)

firefangled: Yes, I've always loved the rhyme, as you do. I'm always thrown by 'the cow with the crumpled horn' as well. It seems as if the cow's horns are made of cardboard, or metal even. ;) Perhaps it's a clockwork cow of dog-tossing.

To everyone else, thanks so much for reading and commenting. I'm glad you all enjoyed it.
qimi: The original is a simple poem that I keep coming back to as well. I love the rhythm of it, and the constant build up of ideas.