Saturday 12 May 2012

The Owl and the Pussy Cat

Have you seen the Google doodle today?
It's a celebration of the 200th birthday of the British artist and poet Edward Lear.

Lear wrote the childhood poem, and one of my, favourites  ‘The Owl and the Pussy Cat’; and that's what the doodle reflects.  If you don't know it then I wonder where you were as a child, and here is the poem for your enjoyment.

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.

200 years on and it's still amazing.


1 comment:

organic baby crib bedding said...

wow i have heard bits and pieces of this poem, and never realized it was a poem like this! Makes me wonder how many of our sayings and cliches are from old poetry and literature.