The Owl and the Pussycat and Other Poems

English artist, illustrator, and poet Edward Lear is well known for his the volumes of limericks and nonsense poems that he published beginning with his first “A Book of Nonsense” in 1846. These clever and memorable limericks and poems were instantly popular when they first appeared and Lear followed his first volume with several more works of nonsense poetry over the course of his career. These “nonsense” works turn ordinary language and literary expectations on their head with made up words and strange and meaningless phrases. While limericks usually consist of five lines and bawdy topics, Lear’s limericks vary in length and are never scandalous. Instead, they are charming and creative, combining words and images into surprising and unexpected verses. “The Owl and the Pussycat”, which was first published in 1871 in “Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets”, is a charming example of Lear’s whimsical poetry. Also included in this volume are “The Pobble who has No Toes” and “The Quangle Wangle’s Hat”, all charmingly illustrated by Margaret Jervis. This edition reproduces in full color these illustrated versions of Lear’s poems and includes a biographical afterword.