Name: _______________________________

Class: _______

The Owl and the Pussycat

by Edward Lear
Poetic features
I
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!'
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.
III
'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.

A Personification: they went to

B
sea in a boat
C Personification: animals that
B
use money
D
E Personification: the owl plays
D
the guitar
E
E
E
E

Theme (What is the poem about?)

This is a famous nonsense poem published in 1871. There are four characters in the
poem (the owl, the pussycat, a 'piggy-wig' and a turkey) and the story is about the
love between the owl and the pussycat, who are married by the turkey in the final
stanza. Before they are married, they travel for a year and a day until they meet a
pig with a ring in its nose, who sells the ring to them so that they can get married.
Poetic features
There is a lot of rhyme in the poem. The rhyme scheme is ABCBDEDEEEE, and there is
even internal rhyme. In the first stanza it is in the third line (honey / money). In the
second stanza it is in the first (owl / fowl), third (married / tarried), fifth (away / a day)
and seventh (wood / stood) lines. In the third stanza it is in the first (willing / shilling),
third (away / day), fifth (mince / quince) and seventh (hand / sand) lines.
Figures of speech
The poem contains a lot of personification. Personification is the figure of speech in
which animals or objects do things which only human beings can do. In this poem,
the animals do things which only people do (play the guitar, marry).
There arent any other figures of speech in this poem. There are no similes and no
alliteration.
Questions
1. What do the owl and the pussycat do:
a) in the wood in the land where the Bong-tree grows? _________________________
b) on the edge of the sand? ___________________________________________________
(2 marks)
2. How many characters are there? ______________________________________________
(2 marks)
3. Write 2 nonsensical (silly) elements from the poem.
a) ____________________________________________________________________________
b) ____________________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
4. Give another word for:
a) fowl (line 12): __________________

c) mince (line 27): ________________

b) tarried (line 14): ________________

d) quince (line 27): ________________

(4 marks)
Total marks: ____ / 10 marks