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"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or simply "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the depredations of London Bridge and attempts, realistic or fanciful, to repair it. It may date back to bridge rhymes and games of the late Middle Ages, but the earliest records of the rhyme in English are from the seventeenth century. The lyrics were first printed in close to its modern form in the mid-eighteenth century and became popular, particularly in Britain and the United States in the nineteenth century. The modern melody was first recorded in the late nineteenth century and the game resembles arch games of the Middle Ages, but seems to have taken its modern form in the late nineteenth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 502. Several theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme and the identity of the "fair lady" of the refrain. The rhyme is one of the most well known in the world and has been referenced in a variety of works of literature and popular culture. == Lyrics == There is considerable variation in the lyrics of the rhyme. The most frequently used first verse is:
In the version quoted by Iona and Peter Opie in 1951 the full lyrics were:
The rhyme is constructed of quatrains in trochaic tetrameter catalectic,〔A. L. Lazarus, A. MacLeish, and H. W. Smith, ''Modern English: a Glossary of Literature and Language'' (London: Grosset & Dunlap, 1971), ISBN 0448021315, p. 194〕 (each line made up of four metrical feet of two syllables, with the stress falling on the first syllable in a pair; the last foot in the line missing the unstressed syllable), which is common in nursery rhymes.〔L. Turco, ''The Book of Forms: a Handbook of Poetics'' (Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 3rd edn., 2000), ISBN 1-58465-022-2, pp. 28–30.〕 In its most common form it relies on a double repetition, rather than a rhyming scheme, which is a frequently employed device in children's rhymes and stories.〔R. B. Browne, ''Objects of Special Devotion: Fetishism in Popular Culture'' (Madison, WI: Popular Press, 1982), ISBN 087972191X, p. 274.〕 The Roud Folk Song Index, which catalogues folk songs and their variations by number, classifies the song as 502.〔(Searchable database ), ''English Folk Song and Dance Society'', retrieved 12 July 2012.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「London Bridge Is Falling Down」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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