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The pobble who has no toes is one of the greatest poems ever written but am I not a true Learhead if I prefer limericks that don’t reuse rhymes?
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The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear
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This marvellous collection contains virtually all of the nonsense writings of Edward Lear, illustrated with new drawings by the popular illustrator John Vernon Lord. Here are such favourites as The Owl and the Pussy-cat , The Dong with the Luminous Nose , The Jumblies and many other long poems, together with 236 limericks, all taken from the four volumes of nonsense verse published during Lear's lifetime as well as a group of posthumous publications. Lord has also written an introduction offering a biography and critical background to Lear.Lord's incredibly detailed and zany graphic style splendidly captures the spirit and satirical wit of Lear's work, conveying his lifelong enthusiasm for Lear's nonsense. For most of those accustomed to Lear's own drawings — to whom Lord extends an apology — the end result must fully vindicate the liberty he has taken. The whole is a visual and verbal delight which will appeal to adults and children alike.'John Vernon Lord spent three years lovingly illustrating The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear and did not waste a minute.... Mr Lord's meticulous drawings raise the level of the oeuvre to a new high level of lunacy.' SPECTATOR`Lord has come up with a little-known variorum reading of a familiar work. For that, as for everything in this visually delightful book, we must be grateful — if only because it sends us back to the poems with new eyes. CANBERRA TIMES'John Vernon Lord... has boldly taken his stance in Lear's own world with drawings immensely detailed and elaborately imaged which have, still, a strong resemblance to Lear's own line, and a passionate oddness, a sad emphasis on catastrophe which suggests Lear's troubled mind, where humour was balanced on the edge of melancholy and mania. These drawings, whatever Lear scholars think of them, are evidence of a careful study of the man and his work.' GROWING POINT'A very handsome edition.' BOOK WORLD
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Genres
poetry
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 1,2012
This edition
- Format
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256 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 1992 by Mandarin
- ISBN
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9780749311605
- ASIN
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0749311606
- Language
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English
About the author
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Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised.
His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; and as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred Tennyson's poems.
As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.
His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; and as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred Tennyson's poems.
As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.
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The inventor of Limmericks! Enough said.
This copy belonged to my sister.
This copy belonged to my sister.
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Some poems in this book made me laugh out loud! Very unrealistic limericks that I got a kick out of- read the ones about noses especially!
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A month ago, if you'd asked me what my favourite Lear poem was, I'd have said that renowned tale of the oddest of couples, "The Owl and the Pussycat"... as that was the only Lear poem I knew. It is this famous work of his that opens this collection (and it will always hold a special place in my heart), but it is far from being the only masterpiece within this book.
To quote illustrator John Vernon Lord in his introduction: "Profound truths and feelings can be told in nonsense." There are two poems in this collection I feel demonstrate this in particular. The first is "The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó" (my NEW favourite Lear poem), which is a tragic tale of unrequited love portrayed with fantastical imagery and words. The second is mock epic "The Jumblies" - a sea voyage in a sieve, again riddled with nonsensical marvellous imagery, but which carries a sense of adventure akin to "The Odyssey". Lord and myself are not the only ones who've noted this pathos amongst the humour: Trevor Bachman's operatic adapation of "Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó" haunted me for days after I heard it, whilst Rory Kinnear's powerhouse reading of "The Jumblies" rightfully gives it the same dignity as a Shakespearean monologue.
I've also noticed that the repetition of places and characters in Lear's story poems almost hint at the possibility of a Lear "canon" or "universe". Consequently, in my head, the Jumblies sail to Boshen and convince Yonghy to return to his lost love, crossing paths with the Owl and the Pussycat and the toeless Pobble en route. (Look, we're in lockdown and I'm feeling a bit blue - just let me imagine this happy ending in peace, OK?)
Many of Lear's limericks feature in this book, and he is considered a master of the craft. Whilst there's no denying his prolific amount of limerick poems and his long-lasting association with the form, I'm personally not a big fan of his distinctive "use the same word/location in the first and last line" style. Regardless of how funny the scene conveyed is (and some of them are brilliantly funny), the mirrored endings (to me, at least) always feel a little like the piece is skidding to a halt, as if another funnier rhyme couldn't be found. Consequently, I much prefer the story poems, which make this collection worth reading all by themselves.
To quote illustrator John Vernon Lord in his introduction: "Profound truths and feelings can be told in nonsense." There are two poems in this collection I feel demonstrate this in particular. The first is "The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó" (my NEW favourite Lear poem), which is a tragic tale of unrequited love portrayed with fantastical imagery and words. The second is mock epic "The Jumblies" - a sea voyage in a sieve, again riddled with nonsensical marvellous imagery, but which carries a sense of adventure akin to "The Odyssey". Lord and myself are not the only ones who've noted this pathos amongst the humour: Trevor Bachman's operatic adapation of "Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó" haunted me for days after I heard it, whilst Rory Kinnear's powerhouse reading of "The Jumblies" rightfully gives it the same dignity as a Shakespearean monologue.
I've also noticed that the repetition of places and characters in Lear's story poems almost hint at the possibility of a Lear "canon" or "universe". Consequently, in my head, the Jumblies sail to Boshen and convince Yonghy to return to his lost love, crossing paths with the Owl and the Pussycat and the toeless Pobble en route. (Look, we're in lockdown and I'm feeling a bit blue - just let me imagine this happy ending in peace, OK?)
Many of Lear's limericks feature in this book, and he is considered a master of the craft. Whilst there's no denying his prolific amount of limerick poems and his long-lasting association with the form, I'm personally not a big fan of his distinctive "use the same word/location in the first and last line" style. Regardless of how funny the scene conveyed is (and some of them are brilliantly funny), the mirrored endings (to me, at least) always feel a little like the piece is skidding to a halt, as if another funnier rhyme couldn't be found. Consequently, I much prefer the story poems, which make this collection worth reading all by themselves.
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Intrigued by a segment of "the owl and the pussy cat" but when browsing through the whole deck, I decided the author's work is not for me.
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I started reading this because my daughter loves The Owl and the Pussycat and The Quangle Wangle's Hat. Now she loves even more, and is able to identify Lear by name.
I admit that the limericks get a bit old after eighty or so of them, but the long poems never do, and I realized as I read this that Lear was a formative influence on many of my favorite artists, especially: Lewis Carrol, Dr. Seuss, and John Lennon.
I admit that the limericks get a bit old after eighty or so of them, but the long poems never do, and I realized as I read this that Lear was a formative influence on many of my favorite artists, especially: Lewis Carrol, Dr. Seuss, and John Lennon.
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What a strange collection! I didn’t really know Edward Lear until reading this book. Its very well put together and the illustrations are wonderful. My favorite poem is The Owl and the Pussycat as I remember that fondly from childhood. Many of the limericks were a bit tedious but Lear does have an incredible ability to use language. These poems are best read aloud to fully appreciate the silly words and rhymes.
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