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Edward Lear

Edward Lear

About Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English painter and poet who was born on May 12, 1812 in England. He was the 20th of 21 children, but many of them did not live past infancy. His oldest sister, Ann, acted as his mother for most of his life, and she tutored him at home because he did not have a lot of formal education.

Lear suffered from epileptic seizures and asthma during his life. The epilepsy caused a lot of guilt and loneliness because during the time he lived, seizures were associated with demonic possession.

Lear had a natural talent for drawing and painting, which his sister encouraged. In 1832 he published a volume of folio lithographic prints of parrots, Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae. This collection caught the eye of the 13th earl of Derby, Edward Stanley. He asked Lear to draw the animals at his estate in Lancashire.

To entertain the children at the estate, Lear began writing poems. He first published these and his own illustrations under a penname in 1846 in a collection called A Book of Nonsense. The book was a compilation of nonsensical limericks. Lear helped to popularize this particular form of poetry.

The collection was expanded in 1861 under Lear's real name, and it was received well by the public. He thought he would make a name for himself as a painter, not a poet, but the success encouraged him to write more poems. During the 1870's Lear published three more volumes of poems: Nonsense Songs (1870), More Nonsense (1872), and Laughable Lyrics (1877)

His most famous individual piece is considered to be "The Owl and the Pussycat".

Edward Lear never married, but he did travel a lot. In addition to book of poetry, Lear published animal drawings and travel books.

In 1886 he contracted a severe case of bronchitis, which led to a decline in health. He passed away on January 29, 1888 in Italy.

References

Poems by Edward Lear

The Owl And The Pussy-Cat

Famous Poem

in Famous Children Poems

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 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.
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Limericks By Edward Lear

Famous Poem

in Famous Funny Poems

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!'

There was an Old Person of Ischia,
Whose conduct grew friskier and friskier;
He dance hornpipes and jigs,
And ate thousands of figs,
That lively Old Person of Ischia.

There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, 'I'm afloat, I'm afloat!'
When they said, 'No! you ain't!'
He was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.

There was a Young Lady of Hull,
Who was chased by a virulent bull;
But she seized on a spade,
And called out, 'Who's afraid?'
Which distracted that virulent bull.

There was an Old Person of Ems,
Who casually fell in the Thames;
And when he was found
They said he was drowned,
That unlucky Old Person of Ems.

There was an Old Man who said, 'Hush!
I perceive a young bird in this bush!'
When they said, 'Is it small?'
He replied, 'Not at all!
It is four times as big as the bush!'

There was a Young Lady of Russia,
Who screamed so that no one could hush her;
Her screams were extreme,
No one heard such a scream,
As was screamed by that lady of Russia.

There was an Old Person of Ewell,
Who chiefly subsisted on gruel;
But to make it more nice
He inserted some mice,
Which refreshed that Old Person of Ewell.

There was an old man in a tree,
Whose whiskers were lovely to see;
But the birds of the air,
Pluck'd them perfectly bare,
To make themselves nests on that tree.

There is a Young Lady whose nose
Continually prospers and grows;
When it grew out of sight,
she exclaimed in a fright,
"Oh! Farewell to the end of my nose!"

There was an Old Person of Dean,
Who dined on one pea and one bean;
For he said,
"More than that would make me too fat,"
That cautious Old Person of Dean.

There was an Old Person of Dover,
Who rushed through a field of blue Clover;
But some very large bees,
Stung his nose and his knees,
So he very soon went back to Dover.

There was an Old Man of Peru,
Who watched his wife making a stew;
But once by mistake,
In a stove she did bake,
That unfortunate Man of Peru.

There was a Young Lady whose bonnet,
Came untied when the birds sate upon it;
But she said: 'I don't care!
All the birds in the air
Are welcome to sit on my bonnet!'
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Those birds will just nest anywhere! Of course they need to build a home for their young-uns. Our dad told us a story that when he was young he would help gather the clothes off the clothes...

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Edward Lear

About Edward Lear

Poems by Edward Lear

The Owl And The Pussy-Cat

Limericks By Edward Lear