Edward Lear > Quotes

“And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon.”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat...”
― Edward Lear

“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.”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note. . .

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.”
― Edward Lear

“The Jumblies



I

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!'
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.


II

They sailed away in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they sailed so fast,
With only a beautiful pea-green veil
Tied with a riband by way of a sail,
To a small tobacco-pipe mast;
And every one said, who saw them go,
'O won't they be soon upset, you know!
For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,
And happen what may, it's extremely wrong
In a Sieve to sail so fast!'
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.


III

The water it soon came in, it did,
The water it soon came in;
So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet
In a pinky paper all folded neat,
And they fastened it down with a pin.
And they passed the night in a crockery-jar,
And each of them said, 'How wise we are!
Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long,
Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong,
While round in our Sieve we spin!'
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.


IV

And all night long they sailed away;
And when the sun went down,
They whistled and warbled a moony song
To the echoing sound of a coppery gong,
In the shade of the mountains brown.
'O Timballo! How happy we are,
When we live in a Sieve and a crockery-jar,
And all night long in the moonlight pale,
We sail away with a pea-green sail,
In the shade of the mountains brown!'
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.


V

They sailed to the Western Sea, they did,
To a land all covered with trees,
And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart,
And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart,
And a hive of silvery Bees.
And they bought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws,
And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws,
And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree,
And no end of Stilton Cheese.
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.


VI

And in twenty years they all came back,
In twenty years or more,
And every one said, 'How tall they've grown!
For they've been to the Lakes, and the Torrible Zone,
And the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
And they drank their health, and gave them a feast
Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast;
And every one said, 'If we only live,
We too will go to sea in a Sieve,---
To the hills of the Chankly Bore!'
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.”
― Edward Lear

“How pleasant to know Mr Lear!" / Who has written such volumes of stuff! / Some think him ill-tempered and queer / But a few think him pleasant enough.”
― Edward Lear

“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.”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“There was a Young Person of Smyrna,
whose grandmother threatened to burn her;
But she seized on the cat,
and said, "Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!”
― Edward Lear

“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!”
― Edward Lear

“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!”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“And thence I only come again
Just to pack up and run,
Somewhere where life may less be pain,
And somewhere where there's sun.”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense

“One finds that constant quiet sympathy is not only one of the most lovable qualities, but one of the very rarest.”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense

“Fish fiddle de-dee!”
― Edward Lear, The Pobble Who Has No Toes

“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.”
― Edward Lear

“Ploffskin, Pluffskin, Pelican jee! We think no Birds so happy as we! Plumpskin, Ploshkin, Pelican jill! We think so then, and we thought so still!”
― Edward Lear, The Nonsense Books Collection

“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.”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“On the whole, as the morbid & mucilaginous monkey said when he climbed up to the top of the Palm-tree & found no fruit there - one can't depend upon dates.”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense

“O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“Young Lady of Hull, Who was chased by a”
― Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense

“There was an Old Man of Peru, Who watched his wife making a stew; But once by mistake, In a stove she did bake, That unfortunate Man of Peru.”
― Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense

“Sitem płynęli, po morzu płynęli,
sitem płynęli po morzu;
Mimo przyjaciół uwag i rad,
W burzliwy, wietrzny, niebezpieczny świat
Sitem płynęnli po morzu.
A gdy odbili od brzegu w swym sicie,
Wszyscy krzyknęli: "Wy sie potopicie!"
To oni: "Płyniemy na wiatry i burze,
Co nam, że nasze sito nie jest duże,
My sitem płyniemy po morzu!".

Dalekie są kraje i bliskie są kraje,
gdzie Dżamble pędzą życie;
Zielone głowy mają, niebieskie ręce mają
I po morzu pływają w sicie.

Sitem płynęli po morzu, płynęli,
Bo sitem ich była łódeczka;
Z welonu uszyli żagielek zielony,
Maszrt z fajki zrobili na sztorc ustawionej,
Za line słuźyła wstążeczka.
I mówił, kto widział, jak wyszli na morze,
Że łatwo ich sito wywrócić się może,
Że niebo ciemnieje, że podróż daleka,
Że mnóstwo i strasznych przygód na nich czeka,
Bo sitem ich była łódeczka!

Dalekie są kraje i bliskie są kraje,
gdzie Dżamble pędzą życie;
Zielone głowy mają, niebieskie ręce mają
I po morzu pływają w sicie.

(przeł. Andrzej Nowicki)”
― Edward Lear, The Dong with a luminous nose;

“nonsense pictures There was a Young Lady of Troy, Whom several large flies did annoy; Some she killed”
― Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense

“There was an Old Person of Blythe,
Who cut up his meat with a scythe,
When they said, 'Well! I never!' - he cried, 'Scythes for ever!'
That lively Old Person of Blythe.”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense

“Never - never more, - oh! never,
Did that Cricket leave him ever, -
Dawn or evening, day or night; -
Clinging as a constant treasure, -
Chirping with a cheerious measure, -
Wholly to my uncle's pleasure, -
(Though his shoes were far too tight.)”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense

“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.”
― Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

“Cold are the crabs that crawl on yonder hills
Colder the cucumbers that grow beneath,
And colder still the brazen chops that wreathe
The tedious gloom of philosophic pills!
For when the tardy gloom of nectar fills
The ample bowls of demons and of men,
There lurks the feeble mouse, the homely hen,
And there the porcupine with all her quills.
Yet much remains - to weave a solemn strain
That lingering sadly - slowly dies away,
Daily departing with departing day.
A pea green gamut on a distant plain
Where wily walrusses in congress meet--
Such such is life”
― Edward Lear

“There was an Old Man of the East, Who gave”
― Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense

“There was a Young Lady of Norway,

Who casually sat in a doorway;

When the door squeezed her flat, she exclaimed "What of that?"

This courageous Young Lady of Norway.”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense

“Which distressed that Old Man of Jamaica. nonsense”
― Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense

“Such such is life -
Where early buffaloes in congress meet
Than salt more salt, than sugar still more sweet,
And pearly centipedes adjust their feet”
― Edward Lear, The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense