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The Owl and the Pussycat
By Edward Lear
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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.
–
This romantic “nonsense” by Edward Lear is a classic of children’s literature. Its lilting rhythm has a wonderful calming effect on the senses. It even works on crying babies!
Read by Natasha Lee Lewis. Duration 2.35
We draw on the Victorian poets whose verse is still fresh and packed with nonsense, morals, and atmospherics.
[...] Get off that pea-green boat right now, because bong trees don’t exist and owls n’ pussycats ain’t compatible. [...]
Hello
This is a very lyrical rhyme by the poet Edward. Even though it is a spoken poem it has a musical quality to it, and this will help you remember it if you read it out loud.
Thanks for listening
Bye Bye
N*
o my gosh it so pretty hahaha i want it i memorize it always o my gosh hahaha
This is one of my all time favs. I don’t think it’s nonsense i love it. I know it off by heart and i still read it now after i have had it for like 7 or 8 years. i read it every day i love it sooooo much!!!!!!
This book is one of my altime favs. it is a great book and i know it off by heart, i have loved it ever since i first brought it about 7 or 8 years ago.
Hello
Thank you for your comment,
The Owl and the Pussy Cat who went to Sea in a beautiful Pea Green boat is a tale,starts with the owl who sings to the pussycat in the boat underneath the stars an the moon. The author Edward Lear wrote in nonce verse and this poem is similar to the Table & The Chair, where there is a conversation between the two characters. ‘ said thr tae to the chair ‘ if we take a little walk we might have little talk’ and this is what sends them walking Slowly down to the town, You will find this poem and also The Jumbilies on Storynory and as an RSS feed: poems@Storynory.com
Thanks for listening
ByeBye
N*
this poem is worth reading.enjoyed it.
appreciated.
Went shopping yesturday and came across the owl and pussycat wall stickers and bounting for my new granddaughters nurseryroom. It bought back so many of my childhood memories. I dearly would love to buy a book or music to celebrate this very special occassion.Could you possibily find a shop in which l could purchase either. Thanking you. I live in Melbourne southeastern.
[...] I loved this poem from the beginning. Hope you like it. It is a classic. [...]
I love this story. My kid sister knew it by heart, and I’d love to have the book for my 3 yr old grandson.
Could you let me know how I can go about purchasing one onine?
Please write to me at: RED12078@nycap.rr.com
Thank you, and have a great week! :)
Ruth DaCorsi
we loved it we got it stuck in our heads!
MEG & PIP
Dear Senior School,
Thank you,
‘The Owl and The Pussy Cat’ is full of interesting verse language
‘The Bong Tree’, ‘ The Piggy Wig Tree’ and the ‘Runcible Spoon’.
in the three verse stanza’s.
Lewis Carroll, a contemporary verse poet of Edward Lear, also wrote nonce poems in ‘Alice In Wonderland’, that you may enjoy, including: ‘The Mouses Tale, Chapter 9. Lewis Carroll coined his invented words of nonce as Lexicon.
You may find this Storynory PCR on Lexicon interesting:
http://storynory.com/2011/05/07/4922/
Both poets has the intention of reading there poems out loud and the onomatopoeic quality of the nonce words call for them to be read out loud.
You may also find useful Storynory PCR:
http://storynory.com/2011/03/24/the-art-of-reading-poetry-aloud/
Where you will find other Victorian verse poets of using a similar verse style
Thanks for listening to Storynory Audio poems.
Bye Bye
N*
We think that this story was unusual and we enjoyed it throughly thankyou
I first heard it as a young mother and sang it to my children many, many times. I had forgotten it until I heard some excerps this morning on an old movie played on TCM. I just had to stop and look it up. Thanks
IT IS A GREAT POEM
I fell in love with it the first time i read it
Hey Bertie.Can you find some more poem.
AAAWWWSSSOOOMMMEEE
I am 73 years and I am teaching it to my grandchildren.I have taught it to many children. Great imagination.I love it.
I like The owl and the pussy-cat because it rhymes and it’s got animals in it.
i have this poem in my diary
i think this poem is in the middles
Bertie,your poem is so wonderful.Maybe it was rather short,but this is going to be my most favorite poem.I feel a bit sorry because I didn’t download this poem,but,His Royal Highness Prince Bertie the Frog,I wish may the things that like the owl and the pussycat does happen to His Royal Highness Prince Bertie and Her Royal Loveliness Princess Beatrice.I’d feel a bit sad when listening to the story ‘Bertie on Holiday’,when Bertie turned back to a prince.But when the wicked queen turned him into a frog again,and this time she do kind things.She slipped a piece of mince pie for him to eat and a copy of Wizzo Skateboarder for him to eat.
Very Nice book. Very Deatailed
i like the poem
nice poem…I teach the poem many times…my students like it..
It happens to be one of my favourite poems. I teach it to every batch ofclass 4 students. I never tire of it.
I love this poem I have known it since I was very young and now Im teaching it to my children. I often say it at work, and watch the look on my workmates faces they wonder how I can remember it. I LOVE IT> XXX
wat,s good
in my opinion the story is very boring.
i don´t understand this story!
after 78 yrs now I know the story- cool
hello beartie
this is a very nice poem i know it off by heart
from kanako
Dear dunno,
This is really poem.
Poem means short and summary story.
Story means long and smooth story.
It’s good question^^
Love,
Emma~^w^
(\_(\_/)_/)
(o_o)(^3^)
~(~|_|~)~
its a really calm poem or is it a story!!!!!!!
Delightful!!!!!!!!!
nice poem, natasha!!!!!!!!!!
brillent!!!!!!!!
Dear Donna, I’m really sorry but we don’t accept poems and stories at the moment. We do our own. Maybe one day… Thanks for asking though.
Hello! can we also contribute poems and stories? I really love this website. ^_^
my mom loves this poem! I like it to
This story made me in terrible
shock do animals have shilings?
this is totally nonsense!!!!!
limin
this story is beatyful and funny!
amazing!
Thank you Sharanya that’s very nice of you
hi bertie
i am longing to meet you and just waiting thinking one day you will turn back into a handsomest prince in the whole universe.
luv
shranya :)
WEBKINZ IS FUN
boaring
I love it, it is sooo sweet!
i didnt like it =( it wz SOOOO boring!!
nd not funny
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it’s a great poem, we are doing it as a project in our calligiaphy class with ilustrations of the characters.
IT WAS GRRATE.
it has a funny tidle!
i like your vedio!
Hi Arash
For some reason the audio gets stuck sometimes. If you are still having trouble, please try our back up audio file here
http://storynory.com/audio/owlpussycat.mp3
That’s perfect.
I really love it.
But, I don’t know why the audio part isn’t complete.
very very good
my students loved this rhyme.
I think this poem is cool
the owl and the pussycat is a great discripted poem and is a nonsence poem and is really got alout of ryming words.
this poem is a fuuny one
We like the poem because we like the word Bong tree and it is very nonsense
we think it is very romantic poem and we liked the word piggy-wig!
I liked the owl and the pussycat it was very funny.
it was a realy funny
nonsense poem
it was great it was mega funny
I love this poem I is a good story aswell I think this would make a good story for children learning to read.
I think it is very funny it is also suitable for children. I also like the charactors and the way you set the story out!
i like the poem because it is funny and i like the the word piggy wig and bong trees
I realy liked the poem because it has a good rythme and I the use of rhyming
I think it is very funny I like the story.
I like the poam because it is a nonsence and funny!
I love,it because it has some wonderful adjectives and nonsence.
I think it was a tounge-tying twister of rhyming words and i think it is also very funny.
i think it is very relaxing also very funny,very also liked the rhymes at he start they were cool.
I loved the owl and the pussycat because of the nonsese word and the rhymic pattern.Also I liked the
words liked Bong-Tree and Piggy-Wig.
I liked this poem because the nonsence rhymes make it good for children and adults to read! Also it has funny words to intreast young readers like ‘bong-tree’
I love the owl and the pussycat because the nonsense words make it funny tied in with the rhythm.Also it has funny words like Bong-Tree and Piggy-Wig
It is very funny and very descriptive the nonsense words are very weird
It is very descriptive?
It is very desciptive?
I like it because it is funny and good for little children
I like it because its very funny and it has alot of describing words in it and it has very good text in, and it is suitable for all style of age.
The owl and the pussy cat is a great poem because its very funny and the discription is great.
The story was alright and funny to,and i liked it.
The discription is great its funny to,and I think Edward Lear had a good imagination.
I love it.it is realy funny.I love the discribing of the boat and ilike the word bong tree.
I love it because it is a real twist in nature.
I thought the owl and the pussy cat was very funny
I
think the owl and the pussy cat is complete nonsense
I love it
it’s very exciting and suitable to children
does anyone know if a bong tree is real and what it looks like its for an animation
I liked the part when they danced by the light of the moon
no arig
that
This poem makes senes
I love this poem
good
thank u
he
hey babes lovin this poem its fab. wooooooooooo hhhhhoooooooooooooo . rock on pems yayyyy
this is agreat story for children!!!!!!!!!!!
this is a great poem!!!!! my favourite!!!
i love it atacha
i like this poem very much i love poems very muchhhhhhhh
it was ok but need to make it fun
hi! i am lynn. i really think the poem was GREAT! have you got more romantic poems or stories or articles?
JD – I still can’t find your site. Please just drop an email, Bertie@storynory.com and let’s get in touch.
I’m sorry about that. I had to change some things around, but I think it’s OK now. The URL is: http//jdgibsonart.blogspot.com
I’m new here but I think I’m getting the hang of it. Let me know when you get there.
Thanks, J.D.
P.S. I love your page!
Hi J.D,
I can’t find your website “where the Bong Tree Grows” could you let us have the URL address?
I really like your page and the poem. In fact I have illustrated this beautiful poem as well as others. I would like to share these images with you. Please visit my page, “Where The Bong Tree Grows”. The Art of J.D.Gibson
edmund learunfortunatly wrote part of part 2 of the owl and the pussy cat.lear never finished it..the gist of it was the cat died and their mixed brood he refers to is left unfinished.we have been spared this desecration by his timely death..thank you
For those of you who like the Owl & the Pussycat, Natasha will be reading more poems soon.
i iove you and your storys and some more.
nice,good reading and want some more.
i love you and the storys and whont more storys for me and my class
Hello Laura and Kimberley,
I’m really glad you like the “Owl and the Pussycat”. Unfortunately, I don’t think Edward Lear wrote a “Part Two”. We will do another poem soon, and hope you like it as much.
Bertie
Kimberley from Portmore Jamaica loves “The Owl and the Pussycat”
i love this peom it lets me laugh, when I was sad. I share it with my class mates in jamaica, it was fun. Could you have a part 2 to this peom, please.
i think this poem is wonderful, please can u make more because my class luv ur stories