The Owl and the Pussycat
The Owl and the Pussycat 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!”
II
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.
II
“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.
Edward Lear 1812 – 1888
From: Poetry to read Out Loud, Edited by Robert Alden Rubin, Algonquin Books, 1993.
This was such a cute book, The square shape, along with its brightly-colored dust jacket just called out..."read me, read me" but the choices made by the editor, Robert Alden Rubin, left me a little cold.
Maybe I was in a bad mood. Perhaps that's it--I found myself wondering if his mother called him ROBERT ALDEN!" when she sent him off to clean his room. I'm not usually so churlish. But in the end, there are plenty of poems out there and he can pick his favorites and I can pick mine.
Perhaps if I just go eat some mince and slices of quince, everything will be fine! (Where's my runcible spoon??)
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