A form of symbolic communication, using rhyme and/or rhythm, usually directed to a
group or community, often local in origin and invariably vernacular in language, intended
for reading and/or recitation.
Many forms of folklore have poetic elements, but those most often termed “folk
poetry” include children’s verses such as nursery and skipping rhymes, occupational
verses such as peddler’s cries and military cadences, written short verses such as graffiti
and autograph-book rhymes, and more extended, often narrative verses such as African
American toasts, parodies, and cowboy poetry. Folksongs, though they may be composed
of rhymed stanzas, are usually considered a separate category, because music is basic to
them.
Many folk poets see rhyme as absolutely essential, but a few are comfortable with free
or blank verse. Though rhythmic qualities are evident in folk poetry, few folk poets
consciously employ rhythm in their verse. They and their audiences often appreciate
rhyming structure because it makes a text more striking and memorable. Rhythm also
helps to give poetry these qualities, but some recitations (orally, dramatically performed
folk poems) involve other memorable structures as well, as does this nonsense piece,
popular in Ontario in the early 1960s:
I come before you
to stand behind you
to tell you something
I know nothing about.
This Monday
being Good Friday,
there will be a ladies’ meeting
for men only.
Admission is free,
pay at the door,
pull up a chair
and sit on the floor.
The opposing parallels—before versus behind, something versus nothing, Monday versus
Friday, ladies versus men, and so on—allow reciters to reconstruct the second element
once they have recalled the first. So, this verses form contributes to its humorous and
oxymoronic meaning, but also makes it difflcult for a performer to forget.
Folk poetry’s formal structures, however, are usually a minor consideration at best for
folk poets and their audiences. Unlike fine art poetry, folk poetry is read and recited not
because of its beautiful language, or because of its author’s uniquely insightful
sentiments and striking points of view, but because it expresses something the poet or
presenter believes will be useful to the community or group to which it is directed. An
autograph verse, for example, is not intended to be read as a work of art; it is simply an
appropriate expression of one child’s or adolescent’s feelings toward another in a clever
yet conventional mode. Thus, though some might confuse folk poetry with doggerel, or
simply call it bad poetry, it must be evaluated in terms of its context instead of its
aesthetic qualities.
Some folk poetry is communicated orally. For example, most children’s rhymes and
games are not written down until folklorists or other scholars record them; children
circulate them by saying them to one another. Other examples, like nursery rhymes, may
be transmitted both orally and in written form; parents may gather nursery rhymes from
books to tell children orally, and children may retell them back to their parents or other
children. Some folk poems are performed orally—at least on some occasions—but were
originally composed in writing, such as the verses recited at wedding showers or
anniversary celebrations to make fun of—and thus honor—a couple. Some folk poems
are prepared for private family or small-group circulation and may be read or said,
depending upon the circumstances—those composed to mark a birthday, for example,
might be enclosed in a card or declaimed at a party—while others find publication in
more public venues like local newspapers and histories, especially poems composed in
celebration of a town or of an important figure. For example, some poems about amputee
Terry Fox, whose 1980 attempt to run across Canada to raise funds for cancer research
moved many people, were sent to his family; some were sent as well, or instead, to
community and national newspapers.
Some folk poems require a written format to get their message across. The following
example’s subtleties—indeed, its point—would be lost if it were recited. The poem
derives from the unique context of computerized word processing:
I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC;
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I’ve run this poem threw it
I’m sure your please too no,
Its letter perfect in it’s weight,
My checker tolled me sew.
Similarly, graffiti verse is necessarily communicated in written form. The writer can
remain anonymous, while creating a memorable message with an impact that depends
upon its being present and available to anyone who may see it.
Most writers of folk poetry are moved to communicate in this form because it is an
expression of personal or collective views in a form that can be memorable for others.
Thus, they avoid language that will exclude their readers. The more familiar the text and
its contents are, the better a poem may be used to influence its audience. Thus, many folk
poems are based on other rhymed or rhythmic forms, such as well known songs or
biblical quotations. “A parable (in rhyme) for careless drivers,” published in an Ontario
weekly newspaper, parodies a familiar nursery rhyme. Its message is highly significant
and, like that of most foik poetry, represents collective knowledge and wisdom:
10 little drivers, cruising down the line, one had a
heavy foot and then there were nine;
9 little drivers, the hour was late, one dozed a moment
and then there were eight;
8 little drivers, the evening felt like heaven, one
showed off his driving skills and then there were
seven;
7 little drivers, their lives were full of kicks, one
bought a bottle and then there were six;
6 little drivers, impatient to arrive, one ran a stop sign
and then there were five;
5 little drivers, wheeling near the shore, one viewed
the scenery and then there were four;
4 little drivers, happy as could be, one passed upon a
hill and then there were three;
3 little drivers were busy it was true, one neglected car
repairs and then there were two;
2 little drivers, the day was nearly done, one did not
dim his lights and then there was one;
1 little driver who is still alive today, by following the
safety rules he hopes to stay that way! (Quoted in
Greenhill 1989:145)
Familiar, vernacular language is the primary vehicle for folk poetry’s expression because
it is most likely to be accepted by the intended audience. Similarly, especially in the case
of longer examples like the above, the audience pays attention to the message because it
comes from a fellow community or group member. While remote others’ actions may
affect any individual’s life, where folk poetry is used, one’s fellows’ evaluations are
taken especially seriously Thus, folk poets speak not as artists with special individualistic
knowledge, but as peers—coworkers, family members, and so on. Folk poetry’s local
origins contribute to its significance and effectiveness.
Authorship—who originally created a folk poem—is fundamentally unimportant to
some of its forms. For example, friends who recite a drinking toast before raising their
beer glasses do not care who wrote it. But even though other folk poems’ authors are
community or group members, known to their audiences, these creators notoriously
deflect attention, and their texts, away from themselves. Their main aim is to
communicate with others, though they may at the same time say a great deal about
themselves.
It is not unusual for people to append their names to works that they did not write. By
so doing, they do not claim to have originated these poems; instead they indicate its local
presenter and advocate. By putting her or his name to a poem in a local newspaper, the
presenter submits it to the community’s scrutiny as something she or he thinks is worth
knowing, or knowing about. Thus, a poem like “The House by the Side of the Road”
(Cunningham 1990:166–167) can be recited by a Navajo in the Southwestern United
States, or presented by a local poetry collector in the Grand Valley, Ontario, newspaper;
each presenter must put his name to the poem because he takes responsibility for its
relevance.
The groups or communities to which folk poetry is directed are extremely diverse.
They may be ethnic groups, rural communities, age groups, religious congregations,
special populations like prisoners, friends, families, and so on. The poems often glorify
that group, but they are always internally directed. Since agreed-upon, shared, collective
sentiment is almost always folk poetry’s focus, we usually find conventional, traditional
ideas expressed in folk poetry, rather than unconventional, innovative ones. For example,
the late Pennsylvanian folk poet Roscoe Solley’s poem “The Bugs Won’t Let Me Be”
discusses his encounters with the various diseases of old age. It begins:
When I was young I was sporty
I was happy, go lucky and free
Now that old age should be golden
The bugs won’t let me be.
I’m frequently seeing my doctor
And taking a lot of his drugs
But I just don’t seem to be able
To drive off those pesky old bugs.
The poet concludes:
Now all you good folks pay attention
For most of this story is true
So do what you can while you’re able
‘Cause those bugs’ll be coming for you (quoted in “Folk Poetry” 1993:90)
This poem’s topic is not controversial; instead it knits the audience together by presenting
an elder’s viewpoint in a humorous way so that other seniors can relate to it, while
younger people may both appreciate an elder’s perspective and perhaps foresee their own
future.
Some folk poetry, like the above, may have implicitly argumentative elements. Solley
may have composed his verse to counter what he saw as insufficient understanding,
recognition, or valuing of elders’ positions; his poem teaches the listener about age and
its consequences. Much folk poetry would never be written if its composers thought that
prevailing opinions were with them—persuasion of others would then be unnecessary—
or if there was no danger that prevailing opinions would ignore, forget, or dismiss their
point of view. The relationship between folk poets and their audiences is crucial to much
folk poetry’s creation and is the fulcrum for its performance.
When people who are not part of a community or group that uses folk poetry read it or
hear it, however, it often becomes more controversial. For example, the images of women
presented in much folk poetry could offend people who expect an authentic presentation
of modern North American women’s experiences. Not all folk poetry by men shows
women negatively, but this presentation is not uncommon, as in Texas prisoner Johnny
Barone’s poem about his life experiences:
Once in jail he came to know,
Of his wife and best friend Joe,
She told his sons that he was dead,
Married Joe and shared his bed (quoted in “Folk Po
etry” 1993:45)
Barone’s poem makes his wife directly responsible for most of the evil in his life.
However, other folk poets extol women’s conventional virtues, as in the verses many
compose to nurses as a thank you after a hospital visit, which praise their nurturance,
kindness, and so on. Realistic folk poetic portraits of women may be composed by female
poets; though women are folk poets as frequently as men, they less often present their
works in public.
In such a diverse genre as folk poetry, it is difficult to locate a series of specific
common qualities. However, folk poetry is generally both symbolic and communicative.
Its use usually indicates something about the message being conveyed. For example, in
Ontario newspapers, when the same topic or issue is discussed in a letter to the editor and
in a poem, the former will usually be contentious and critical, whereas the latter is almost
invariably agreeable and positive. In fact, similar opinions may be expressed, but people
are likely to choose the poetic form when they wish to invoke common cause, or to
suggest that their opinion is shared and positive. Thus, folk poetry’s meaning is symbolic,
going beyond what it literally says. Though folk poetry is used in only a few communal
contexts, these locations and uses become inextricably linked with each poem’s actual contents, making folk poetry’s manifestations as infinitely variable as are its possible
meanings.
Pauline Greenhill
References
Cunningham, Keith. 1990. The Oral Tradition of the American West: Adventure Courtship, Family,
and Place in Traditional Recitation. Little Rock, AR: August House.
Folk Poetry. 1993. Canadian Folklore canadien (Special Issue) 15: (1)1–30.
Greenhill, Pauline. 1989. True Poetry: Traditional and Popular Verse in Ontario. Montreal:
McGill-Queens University Press.
Renwick, Roger deV. 1980. English Folk Poetry: Structure and Meaning. Philadelphia: University
of Pennsylvania Press.