Abook rhyme is a shortpoem orrhyme that was formerly printed inside the front of a book or on the flyleaf to discouragetheft (similar to abook curse) or to indicate ownership.
Book rhymes were fairly common in theUnited States during the 18th and 19th centuries, but the printing ofbookplates pushed them out of use.[1]
One of the most common is:
If this book you steal away,
What will you say
OnJudgment Day?
An example of a common style of identification rhyme is:
Everytown is my dwelling-place
America is my nation
John Smith is my name
The end line has several variations:
And Christ is my salvation
And heaven my expectation
An example of an identification rhyme found inJames Joyce'sA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) is:[2]
Stephen Dedalus is my name,
Ireland is my nation.
Clongowes is my dwellingplace.
And heaven my expectation.
The title ofThornton Wilder's novelHeaven's My Destination (1935) andAlfred Bester's novelThe Stars My Destination (1956) play on the final line.
A typical example of an identification book rhyme features prominently inM.R. James' 1925 ghost storyA Warning to the Curious:
Nathaniel Ager is my name and England is my nation,
Seaburgh is my dwelling-place and Christ is my salvation,
When I am dead and in my Grave, and all my bones are rotton,
I hope the Lord will think on me when I am long forgotton.
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