« back

The Owl & The Pussy Cat

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!"

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.

"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 dinèd 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.

The Duck
and
The Kangaroo.

Said the Duck to the Kangaroo,
"Good gracious! how you hop
Over the fields and the water too,
As if you never would stop!

My life is a bore in this nasty pond,
And I long to go out in the world beyond!

I wish I could hop like you!"
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

"Please give me a ride on your back!"
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

"I would sit quite still, and say nothing but 'Quack,'
The whole of the long day through!

And we'd go to the Dee, and the Jelly Bo Lee,
Over the land, and over the sea;—
Please take me a ride! O do!"
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

Said the Kangaroo to the Duck,
"This requires some little reflection;
Perhaps on the whole it might bring me luck,
And there seems but one objection,

Which is, if you'll let me speak so bold,
Your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold,
And would probably give me the roo-
Matiz." said the Kangaroo.

Said the Duck, "As I sate on the rocks,
I have thought over that completely,
And I bought four pairs of worsted socks
Which fit my web-feet neatly

And to keep out the cold I've bought a cloak
And every day a cigar I'll smoke,
All to follow my own dear true
Love of a Kangaroo!"

Said the Kangaroo, "I'm ready!
All in the moonlight pale;
But to balance me well, dear Duck, sit steady!
And quite at the end of my tail!"

So away they went with a hop and a bound,
And they hopped the whole world three times round;
And who so happy,—O who,
As the Duck and the Kangaroo?

A LIST OF WORKS
BY
THE LATE EDWARD LEAR.

In oblong 4to, cloth gilt,

The Book of Nonsense. 27th Edition, 110 Illustrations printed in outline as originally published.

More Nonsense. Third Edition. 104 Illustrations.

In small 4to, cloth gilt,

Nonsense Songs and Stories. 7th Edition.

Nonsense Botany and Nonsense Alphabets. 162 Illustrations. Fifth Edition.

MR. RUSKIN

says, in his List of the Best Hundred Authors—"Surely the most beneficent and innocent of all looks yet produced is 'The Book of Nonsense,' with its corollary carols, inimitable and refreshing, and perfect in rhythm. I really don't know any author to whom I am half so grateful for my idle self as Edward Lear. I shall put him first of my hundred authors."

LONDON AND NEW YORK:
FREDERICK WARNE & CO.

The Owl & The Pussy Cat

The Duck and The Kangaroo.

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY!

The Duck
and
The Kangaroo.