“Sometimes life just needs a little nonsense!”
~ Dr. Joel Ying
“The Owl and the Pussy-cat” is a whimsical and humorous nonsense poem by Edward Lear, written in 1867 and first published in 1871 as part of his book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets. The poem was written for the three-year-old daughter of a friend, but speaks to the child in all of us. Nonsense poems make perfects sense with their syntax and grammar, but befuddle the brain with upside-down logic, incompatible phrases, and sometimes even made up words. I hope the poem brings you a smile.
THE OWL AND THE PUSSY-CAT
by Edward Lear (1812 – 1888)
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!’
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?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
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.
