Wednesday, November 18, 2009

fizzgiggious fish, &c.

The Fizzgiggious Fish,
who always walked about upon Stilts,
because he had no legs.


There was an old man in a tree,
Whose whiskers were lovely to see;
But the birds of the air pluck'd them perfectly bare,
To make themselves nests in that tree.



The Tumultuous Tom-tommy Tortoise,
who beat a Drum all day long in the
middle of the wilderness.

There was an old person of Crowle,
Who lived in the nest of an owl;
When they screamed in the nest, he screamed out with the rest,
That depressing old person of Crowle.



There was an old person of Dundalk,
Who tried to teach fishes to walk;
When they tumbled down dead, he grew weary, and said,
"I had better go back to Dundalk!"


Edward Lear
from More Nonsense
1872

(and check out the nonsense botany on Project Gutenberg)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

those are fantastic. they kind of remind me of Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library books. Example: Pierre.

english said...

that's awesome, & too familiar. I'd never seen these. thanks

cate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
cate said...

More Nonsense please!

english said...

sure thing Cate, coming right up.