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.