
Edward Lear
    
    
     
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    Edward Lear
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Quotations
        
            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.
 
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