"A Man of Words and not of Deeds" traditional (poetry reading)

There are various stories about the origin of this poem. One of them is that it referred to King Charles II. That seems unlikely because satire is usually specific. He was undoubtedly called "A man of words and not of deeds" but that phrase turns up in many places.

It sounds more like a children's rhyme to me, chanted in the course of a scary game. Kids like being mildly terrified in reassuring circumstances - like in that game, "What's the time, Mr. Wolf?" and Scooby-Doo: it will all come out right in the end because you know the bugbear is always a harmless guy in a mask. Why change a winning formula, that always works? When I give my kids the choice between a nice quiet cuddle and torture, they invariably choose torture. I'd like a cuddle now and then but that's obviously too boring for them.

My children learned a chilling chant from the village kids that must have been centuries old. It accompanied a strange game in which a child was ignored and abandoned, then welcomed back and hugged - I never grasped the rules. They weren't sure of some of the words. This version seems most likely. The name used was the real name of the youngest child.

Wally Wally Wallflowers
Growing up so high
We're all little children
We're all born to die
Except for Daniel Makepeace
He's the youngest child
Fie for shame
Fie for shame
Turn your face to the wall again.

Words and Deeds is apparently a card game:
http://www.l5r.com/products/ccg/words-and-deeds/words-and-deeds-pre-releases/

The love-heart picture came from this EMO site:
http://freeemoinside.blogspot.com/

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Man of Words
• Deeds
• peom
• poetry

[Grim528]

That voice was terrifying. And I'm a GROWN MAN IN MY LATE TWENTIES. Good job.

[karneeleus]

I would love to hear you read some Richard Brautigan.