The Table and the Chair

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The Table and The chair, is a funny poem by Edward Lear about the relationship between the Table and the Chair.

As with many of Lear’s poems the story is of a couple who run away together. The Table and the chair don’t roam quite as far as The Owl and the Pussy Cat or The Duck and the Kangeroo, but they do draw surprise from onlookers as they explore the the alley and the street.

It’s a perfect Poem to read out aloud for Primary Years, and for older children to copy its structure in their own compositions (Five verses each with four rhyming couplets).

Read by Natasha. Duration 2.54. By Edward Lear.

Said the Table to the Chair,

"You can hardly be aware

How I suffer from the heat

And from chilblains on my feet.

If we took a little walk,

We might have a little talk;

Pray let us take the air,"

Said the Table to the Chair.

II.

Said the Chair unto the Table,

"Now, you know we are not able:

How foolishly you talk,

When you know we cannot walk!"

Said the Table with a sigh,

"It can do no harm to try.

I've as many legs as you:

Why can't we walk on two?"

III.

So they both went slowly down,

And walked about the town

With a cheerful bumpy sound

As they toddled round and round;

And everybody cried,

As they hastened to their side,

"See! the Table and the Chair

Have come out to take the air!"

IV.

But in going down an alley,

To a castle in a valley,

They completely lost their way,

And wandered all the day;

Till, to see them safely back,

They paid a Ducky-quack,

And a Beetle, and a Mouse,

Who took them to their house.

Then they whispered to each other,

"O delightful little brother,

What a lovely walk we've taken!

Let us dine on beans and bacon."

So the Ducky and the leetle

Browny-Mousy and the Beetle

Dined, and danced upon their heads

Till they toddled to their beds.

Natasha Says
The Table and The chair, is a funny verse poem by Edward Lear about the relationship between the Table and the Chair As with many of Lear’s poems the story is of a couple who run away together. The Table and the chair don’t roam quite as far as The Owl and the Pussy Cat or The Duck and the Kangeroo, but they do draw surprise from onlookers as they explore the the valley and the street. It’s a perfect Poem to read out aloud for Primary Years, and for older children to copy its structure in their own compositions (Five verses each with four rhyming couplets).