How pleasant to know Mr. Lear

The Jumblies

Happy birthday to English illustrator and humorist Edward Lear, born May 12, 1812.

Here he rhymes about himself: How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear. His Nonsense Books.

Lear is perhaps most famously known for penning The Owl and the Pussycat, but I love his Jumblies best. For anyone who has ever done something rash, silly and adventurous with a fiercely blithe spirit...

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, 'You'll all be drowned!'
They called aloud, 'Our Sieve ain't big,
But we don't care a button! we don't care a fig!
In a Sieve we'll go to sea!'

Read the rest to see how it turns out.

Comments

[gretchen]

Ah! Edward Lear! My great uncle gave me "The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear" when I was a child; oh, how I loved that book! My favorites were the botany illustrations: Phatfacia Stupenda and Manypeeplia Upsidownia still make me laugh out loud! I think shall reread the Jumblies before bed tonite!

[Amy]

I saw the botany when I was looking through the nonsense book and vaguely remember it from childhood. It's delightful.