Edward Lear
Edward Lear (1812–1888) was an English artist, illustrator and writer from Holloway, London, the twentieth of twenty-one children. He first worked as an ornithological painter and gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria, and he travelled widely, painting landscapes around the Mediterranean and in India.
His Book of Nonsense (1846) made the limerick popular, and his nonsense songs, such as “The Owl and the Pussy-cat”, “The Jumblies” and “The Dong with a Luminous Nose”, are classics of English children’s literature. He spent his last years in San Remo, Italy.
Best-known poems
-
The Jumblies
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 Owl and the Pussy-cat
I.
the Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat: … -
Mr. and Mrs. Spikky Sparrow
I.
on a little piece of wood
Mr. Spikky Sparrow stood: … -
The was a Young Lady of Bute
* * *
The was a Young Lady of Bute,
Who played on a silver-gilt flute; …
All poems (84)
L 1
M 1
N 1
T 81
- The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-BòI
- The JumbliesThey went to sea in a sieve, they did;
- The New VestmentsThere lived an old man in the kingdom of Tess,
- The Owl and the Pussy-catI.
- The Quangle Wangle's HatI.
- The was a Young Lady of Bute* * *
- There was a young lady in blue* * *
- There was a young lady in white* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Clare* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Dorking* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Hull* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Norway* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Parma* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Portugal* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Russia* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Ryde* * *
- There was a Young Lady of Tyre* * *
- There was a Young Lady whose bonnet* * *
- There was a Young Lady whose chin* * *
- There was a Young Lady whose eyes* * *
- There was a Young Lady whose nose* * *
- There was a young person in green* * *
- There was a Young Person of Crete* * *
- There was a Young Person of Smyrna* * *
- There was an Old Derry down DerryWho loved to see little folks merry;
- There was an Old Lady of Chertsey* * *
- There was an Old Lady of Prague* * *
- There was an Old Man in a boat* * *
- There was an old man in a tree* * *
- There was an Old Man of Aôsta* * *
- There was an Old Man of Apulia* * *
- There was an Old Man of Cape Horn* * *
- There was an Old Man of Columbia* * *
- There was an old man of Hong Kong* * *
- There was an Old Man of Kamschatka* * *
- There was an Old Man of Kildare* * *
- There was an Old Man of Kilkenny* * *
- There was an Old Man of Madras* * *
- There was an Old Man of Marseilles* * *
- There was an Old Man of Moldavia* * *
- There was an Old Man of New York* * *
- There was an Old Man of Peru* * *
- There was an Old Man of the coast* * *
- There was an Old Man of the West* * *
- There was an Old Man of the Wrekin* * *
- There was an old man of Thermopylæ* * *
- There was an old man of Three Bridges* * *
- There was an Old Man of Vesuvius* * *
- There was an Old Man of Vienna* * *
- There was an Old Man on a hill* * *
- There was an Old Man who said, 'How* * *
- There was an Old Man who said, 'Hush!* * *
- There was an Old Man who supposed* * *
- There was an Old Man with a beard* * *
- There was an Old Man with a flute* * *
- There was an Old Man with a gong* * *
- There was an Old Man with a nose* * *
- There was an Old Man with a owl* * *
- There was an Old Man, on whose nose* * *
- There was an Old Person from Gretna* * *
- There was an old person of Brill* * *
- There was an Old Person of Buda* * *
- There was an Old Person of Cadiz* * *
- There was an Old Person of Chester* * *
- There was an Old Person of Chili* * *
- There was an Old Person of Dover* * *
- There was an Old Person of Ems* * *
- There was an Old Person of Ewell* * *
- There was an old person of Fife* * *
- There was an Old Person of Hurst* * *
- There was an Old Person of Ischia* * *
- There was an Old Person of Leeds* * *
- There was an old person of Minety* * *
- There was an old person of Putney* * *
- There was an old person of Slough* * *
- There was an old person of Stroud* * *
- There was an old person of Wick* * *
- There was an old person of Wilts* * *
- There was an Old Person whose habits* * *
- There was an Old Sailor of Compton* * *
- There was on Old Man of the Isles* * *