Creepy childhood poems and such
 

Anyone know of any? I'm thinking of like...Ring Around The Rosie and how it's supposed to be about the Plague, or how The Pied Piper of Hamelin was about some dude who lured little kids away, never to be seen again.

Even if it's not necessarily supposed to be creepy, if it gives you the willies that's fine too, just explain why. For example, that poem Antigonish-the first line: "Yesterday upon the stair I saw a man who wasn't there" really creeps me out.

I hope this makes sense.


Edit: Urban legends count too.

"Rock A Bye Baby" could qualify, no?
A little infant, sleeping in the top of a tree and crashing down? Sure, the baby is 'caught' but who could survive a filled cradle hurtling down at them?

That's very true.

I hope some other people can think of some.
My daughter and I were discussing what it means to be 'goth' as best as a 5 year old and her mother can, and I was hoping for examples and inspiration.

I think we need to hear more opinions on this matter.
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More opinions on which matter?

I know a few

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy you little baby.
When you wake, you shall have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.



Blacks and bays, dapples and greys,
Go to sleepy you little baby,
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby,
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.

(Now here's the creepy verse)

Way down yonder, down in the meadow,
There's a poor wee little lamby.
The bees and the butterflies pickin' at its eyes,
The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you shall have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.



I also used to find this song scary since I didnt know what some of the things meant. I only just found out now as I was looking it up.

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive", said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."
"Oh, You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

Looking back that song it gave me the feeling like it belonged in a blair witch project sort of camp, as a campfire song.

I don't recall the Rockabye Baby baby ever getting caught... it finishes on "And down will come baby, cradle and all!"

That one that starts "Oranges and lemons say the bells of St. Clemens" is a bit of a shocker at the end, from memory... something about decapitation! O_O

There was a really creepy one that I can't quite remember. Anyway, it entailed a spider, the moon, a kid in a tree, and the kid in the tree eventually eating the spider 'cos his mum hadn't given him anything to eat, 'cos he'd been a bit of a bastard...

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. Awesomeness.

While having a similar conversation at work the other week I was told that the nursery rhyme "goosey goosey gander" was all about prostitutes, having fallen for simialr stories in the past I did google it and found the following:

Goosey Goosey Gander, where shall I wander? Upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's chamber. There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers, so I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs.' Where do I begin with this? A key--this is a very good example of a word that has changed its meaning over the centuries. Now in the 16th, 17th and possibly into the 18th century in England, the word `goose' meant prostitute. The phrase `to be bitten by a goose' meant to contact a venereal disease from the working girls.

We have some great conversations at work when we are bored.


EDIT: have just found this website now that says different but has explanations for a lot of rhymes.
http://www.rhymes.org.uk

A Sad Child by Margaret Atwood

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-sad-child/

There are quite a lot f Russian creepy poems.
Like that one about a fried chiken, or about a cicada who was "green as a cucumber" and then ended up being eaten by a frog.

Do you need the whole poem?
Guess I could translate it, if I manage to find it.

whats the Pied Piper of Hamelin ?


Ive never heard of that one.

Humpty Dumpty possibly? All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put humpty back together again or London Bridge is Falling Down. Imagine a massive bridge suddenly collapsing and burying people.

The Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe is particularly "creepy", as the mother is somewhat abusive towards the children.

I think the creepiest thing is that most all of these nursery rhymes are actually based on factual and often historic events and have little to do with children and soothing melodies... see proof here:

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/