Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsensical poetry and his limericks, a form which he popularised.

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• There was an Old Man with a beard,
  Who said, "It is just as I feared!—
  Two Owls and a Hen,
  Four Larks and a Wren,
  Have all built their nests in my beard!"
  • Book of Nonsense, Limerick 1 (1846).

• How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
  Who has written such volumes of stuff!
  Some think him ill-tempered and queer,
  But a few think him pleasant enough.
  • How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear, st. 1 (1871).

• His mind is concrete and fastidious,
  His nose is remarkably big;
  His visage is more or less hideous,
  His beard it resembles a wig.
  • How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear, st. 2.

• Far and few, far and few,
  Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
  Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
  And they went to sea in a Sieve.
  • "The Jumblies", st. 1, in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871).

• They went to sea in a sieve, they did;
  In a sieve they went to sea;
  In spite of all their friends could say.
  • "The Jumblies", st. 1, in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871).

• Calico Pie,
  The little Birds fly
  Down to the calico tree,
  Their wings were blue,
  And they sang "Tilly-loo!"
  Till away they flew,—
  And they never came back to me!
  • Calico Pie, st. 1 (1871).

• Calico Jam,
  The little Fish swam,
  Over the syllabub sea,
  He took off his hat,
  To the Sole and the Sprat,
  And the Willeby-Wat,—
  But he never came back to me!
  • Calico Pie, st. 2.

• Who, or why, or which, or what,
  Is the Akond of Swat?
  • The Akond of Swat, l. 1 (1877).

• On the top of the Crumpetty Tree
  The Quangle Wangle sat,
  But his face you could not see,
  On account of his Beaver Hat.
  • The Quangle Wangle's Hat, st. 1 (1877).

• When awful darkness and silence reign
  Over the great Gromboolian plain,
  Through the long, long wintry nights.
  When the angry breakers roar
  As they beat on the rocky shore;—
  When Storm-clouds brood on the towering heights
  Of the Hills of the Chankly Bore
  • The Dong with the Luminous Nose, st. 1 (1877).

• The Pobble who has no toes
  Had once as many as we;
  When they said, "Some day you may lose them all;"—
  He replied, — "Fish fiddle de-dee!"
  • The Pobble Who Has No Toes, st. 1 (1877).

• It's a fact the whole world knows,
  That Pebbles are happier without their toes.
  • The Pobble Who Has No Toes, st. 6.

• Ploffskin, Pluffskin, Pelican jee!
  We think no Birds so happy as we!
  Plumpskin, Ploshkin, Pelican jill!
  We think so then, and we thought so still!
  • The Pelican Chorus, chorus (1877).

• On a little heap of Barley
  Died my aged uncle Arly,
  And they buried him one night;—
  Close beside the leafy thicket;—
  There, his hat and Railway-Ticket;—
  There, his ever-faithful Cricket;—
  (But his shoes were far too tight.)
  • Incidents in the Life of my Uncle Arly, st. 7 (1895).

The Owl and the Pussycat (1871)

• The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
  In a beautiful pea green boat,
  They took some honey, and plenty of money,
  Wrapped up in a five pound note.
  The Owl looked up to the stars above,
  And sang to a small guitar,
  "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
  What a beautiful Pussy you are,
  You are,
  You are!
  What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
  • St. 1.

• They sailed away for a year and a day
  To the land where the bong-tree grows.
  • St. 2.

• Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
  How charmingly sweet you sing!
  O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
  But what shall we do for a ring?"
  • St. 2.

• "Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
  Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
  • St. 3.

• And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
  They danced by the light of the moon,
  The moon,
  The moon,
  They danced by the light of the moon.
  • St. 3.

The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bongy-Bò (1877)

• On the Coast of Coromandel
  Where the early pumpkins blow,
  In the middle of the woods
  Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
  Two old chairs, and half a candle,—
  One old jug without a handle,—
  These were all his worldly goods.
  • St. 1.

• There he heard a Lady talking,
  To some milk-white Hens of Dorking,—
  'Tis the lady Jingly Jones!
  On that little heap of stones
  Sits the Lady Jingly Jones!
  • St. 2.

• I would be your wife most gladly!
  (Here she twirled her fingers madly,)
  But in England I've a mate!
  Yes! you've asked me far too late,
  For in England I've a mate.
  • St. 5.