Nonsense Poems
By Edward Lear
()
About this ebook
Who was horribly bored by a Bee;
When they said, "Does it buzz?" He replied, "Yes, it does!
It’s a regular brute of a Bee."
Generations of children and adults have delighted in the whimsical poems of Edward Lear (1812-88). And, despite his achievements as a noted English landscape painter and illustrator of animal life, Lear today is best known for his delightful volumes of nonsense verse. This work spanned several decades — from the first charming lines he wrote in the 1830s for the children of the Earl of Derby to his last collection of poems, published in 1877.
This volume contains a rich sampling of Lear’s inspired nonsense, including more than 90 delightful limericks as well as a choice selection of longer poems along with the amusing illustrations he drew for each. Among these are such classics as "The Owl and the Pussy-cat," and "The Jumblies" as well as a number of lesser-known but equally charming selections: "Calico Pie," "The Duck and the Kangaroo," "Incidents in the Life of My Uncle Arly," "The Daddy Long-legs and the Fly," "The Broom, the Shovel, The Poker, and the Tongs," "Mr. and Mrs. Spikky Spider" and "The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó."
Read more from Edward Lear
Edward Lear's One Hundred Nonsense Pictures and Rhymes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHis Shoes Were Far Too Tight: Poems by Edward Lear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jumblies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nonsense Alphabet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Table and the Chair Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Nonsense Poems
Related ebooks
The Book of Nonsense Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jumblies and Other Nonsense Verses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChild Whispers: Classic Children's Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTanglewood Tales: Greek Myths for Kids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJabberwocky and Other Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aesop's Fables Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cautionary Tales for Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Amazing Animal Alphabet Affirmation Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde (Illustrated Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Brown Fairy Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCasey Jones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Child's Garden of Verses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just So Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Snow Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dream Life of Balso Snell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Humorous Verse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJack London The Dover Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Collection of Classic Fairy Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPuck of Pook's Hill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silly Book of Weird and Wacky Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Poetry For You
You Better Be Lightning Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Things We Don't Talk About Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love Her Wild: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Way Forward Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leaves of Grass: 1855 Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Thoughts: An Exploration Of Who We Are Beyond Our Minds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Collection of Poems by Robert Frost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dream Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twenty love poems and a song of despair Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Poems of John Keats (with an Introduction by Robert Bridges) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Not Taken and other Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rope: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Inferno: The Divine Comedy, Book One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Nonsense Poems
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Nonsense Poems - Edward Lear
At Dover publications we’re committed to
producing books in an earth-friendly manner and
to helping our customers make greener choices.
Manufacturing books in the United States ensures compliance with strict environmental laws and eliminates the need for international freight shipping, a major contributor to global air pollution. And printing on recycled paper helps minimize our consumption of trees, water and fossil fuels.
The text and cover of this book were printed on paper made with post-consumer waste. At Dover, we use Environmental Defense’s Paper Calculator to measure the benefits of these choices, including: the number of trees saved, gallons of water conserved, as well as air emissions and solid waste eliminated.
Courier Corporation, the manufacturer of this book, owns the Green Edition Trademark.
Please visit the product page for this book at www.doverpublications.com to see a detailed account of the environmental savings we’ve achieved over the life of this book.
DOVER CHILDREN’S THRIFT CLASSICS
EDITOR OF THIS VOLUME: CANDACE WARD
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Bibliographical Note
Nonsense Poems is a new collection of nonsense verse written and illustrated by Edward Lear, first published by Dover Publications, Inc. in 1994. These poems were originally published in A Book of Nonsense (1846), Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871), More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc. (1872), Laughable Lyrics, A Fourth Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, Music, etc. (1877) and Nonsense Songs and Stories (1895).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lear, Edward, 1812–1888.
Nonsense poems / Edward Lear.
p. cm.—(Dover children’s thrift classics)
Summary: A new collection of nonsense verses, many beginning There was an old man . . .
or There was a young lady . . .
9780486310619
1. Children’s poetry, English. 2. Nonsense verses, English.
[1. Nonsense verses. 2. English poetry.] I. Title. II. Series.
PR4879.L2N59 1994
821’.8—dc20
93–39193
CIP
AC
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
28031402
www.doverpublications.com
Note
EDWARD LEAR was born on May 12, 1812, the twentieth of twenty-one children. He was a strange-looking child, shortsighted and with a very large nose, who suffered from asthma, bronchitis and epilepsy. Perhaps his ill health contributed to his withdrawn character, but for whatever reason, Lear spent much of his childhood writing poetry, sketching and reading books on natural history.
In 1832 Lear was commissioned by Lord Stanley, later 13th Earl of Derby, to illustrate a book on his private menagerie of over 300 animals and 1700 birds. For the next five years, Lear lived with his patron’s family, endearing himself to the household’s many children with his nonsensical stories and songs. The result of these spontaneous entertainments was Lear’s first Book of Nonsense, published anonymously in 1846. Although Lear