# The Owl and the Pussy-cat

Updated October 9, 2026
The complete text of The Owl and the Pussy-cat, with the story of its author, what it means, and notes to help you read it well.

## The poem

**Edward Lear** (1812–1888)
*Published in Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871).*

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 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.

## About the author

Edward Lear (1812–1888) was an English artist, illustrator and poet who popularized the limerick and invented literary nonsense as a genre. He earned his living painting landscapes and birds, and wrote his nonsense verses to amuse the children of his patrons. 'The Owl and the Pussy-cat', written for the daughter of friends, appeared in 1871 and became the most beloved nonsense poem in English.

## Themes

Love as a voyage: elopement, adventure and marriage, all conducted with perfect practicality (honey, plenty of money, a five-pound note). The nonsense details, the Bong-Tree, the Piggy-wig, the runcible spoon, make the romance both sillier and somehow more tender.

## Reading note

Listen for the refrains: 'You are, / You are!' and 'The moon, / The moon,'. Lear wrote the poem to be sung, and the repeated lines are choruses. The poem's secret is that its courtship follows the most traditional plot in the world, boy meets girl, obstacle, wedding, and tells it entirely in absurdity.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a runcible spoon?

Nobody knows, because Lear invented the word. It appears in several of his poems, always as a wonderfully specific nonsense object. Readers have guessed it might be a fork-spoon or a ladle, but Lear never explained it, and the mystery is the point.

### Is the poem for children?

It was written for a child, Janet Symonds, the daughter of friends, but like all great nonsense it works for adults too. The courtship, the elopement, the wedding feast: children enjoy the silliness, adults enjoy the romance underneath.

### What is the Bong-Tree?

An invented tree in an invented land, reached after sailing 'for a year and a day'. Lear's nonsense geography is part of the poem's charm: the lovers must travel to a place that does not exist to find a ring that does.

### Why do they dance by the light of the moon?

It is the poem's closing image and its most quoted line. After the practical business of the wedding (the ring bought for a shilling, the turkey officiating, dinner of mince and quince), the poem ends in pure romance: hand in hand, dancing in moonlight.