The first rhyme within ‘ Bump’ links the idea of darkness and fear, ‘night’ and ‘fright’. It seems that a child has woken up because of the ‘bump’ and is worried about what could be making the noise. The subtle linguistic descriptor gives the reader an insight into the actual situation. The conditional ‘should’ suggests that although the child who is scared ‘should’ not be scared, they actually are. The elongation of the line, using ‘really’ means that it is not as harsh, it is not presented as a command, further reflecting the parental tone. The ‘really’ implies a softness in tone, with the image of Milligan speaking to one of his children coming through the poem. The adverb ‘really’ modifies the verb ‘give’, with the parental tone coming across strongly here. This focus on the night and not knowing relates to a fear of darkness, with people feeling safer in the light daytime. Of course, if it were day, then the strange noise wouldn’t be a source for alarm. The fact that the ‘bump’ has happened at ‘night’ is the central fear. This is because Milligan’s poems were often read out loud, with the focus on sound within his poems reflecting his enjoyment of words that produce a large sound.īy setting ‘ Bump’ at ‘night’, Milligan draws into the idea of fear and worries. Onomatopoeia can be seen throughout lots of Milligan’s writing, also appearing in ‘Teeth’. Indeed, his most famous poem, ‘ On The Ning Nang Nong‘, relies entirely on this concept. ‘ Bump’ is also typical of Milligan’s writing, with him often using onomatopoeia within his wiring. This is a phrase that I assume almost all people reading would be familiar with, allowing Bump to take on a personal and understandable note. Moreover, the unspecified nature of the origin of the noise reflects the fear of the unknown, which is being dispelled within the poem.īy beginning with the phrase itself, ‘things that go bump in the night’, Milligan calls upon this familiarity. In doing this, Milligan is encompassing all the possibilities of ‘things’ that could be making noise in the night. ‘ Bump’ begins with focusing on the vague ‘things’. This means that the common usage of the phrase could extend back further than we know. The phrase ‘things that go bump in the night’ was first used in print in the year 1918, in the Bulletin of the School Oriental and African Studies: “To a people … who … believe in genii, ghosts, goblins, and those terrific things that ‘go bump in the night’, protective charms are eagerly sought for.” The fact that the quote is not explained insinuates that the phrase would have been familiar to readers at the time. It can be assumed that Milligan wrote this poem for one of the children, considering the parental tone of the poem. And it could.Spike Milligan had six children throughout his life. That is to say, the choice of three permutations doesn’t form a Latin square. I’m expecting variety, but actually both start with “Nong”. This is why I struggle to remember whether it is the one that rhymes with “Trees go ping” or the one that rhymes with “Mice go clang” that starts “Nong”. I think my problem is that although all possible endings are used, the same is not true of the starting positions. The poem uses three of these (1, 5 and 6 in the list above). There are six permutations of the words “Ning”, “Nang” and “Nong”. There’s a not-quite Latin square embedded in the poem. I realised my difficulty is a mathematician pattern-spotting one. What I struggle with is remembering which order the “Ning”, “Nang” and “Nong” go before the one that rhymes with what comes next.Īt the weekend, I wrote “Ning”, “Nang” and “Nong” on pieces of paper and we rearranged them as we read the poem. I can remember all the bits and the basic order (Cows-Trees-Mice), and know what happens after the lines ending “Nong” (“Cows go bong”), “Ning” (“Trees go ping”) and “Nang” (“Mice go clang”). I’ve tried to memorise it before, to save having to find the book when he wants me to recite it. This weekend, he asked me to help him learn it.
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