Reading this as a child, I absolutely loved this. A decade or so later, I think the author must have been on drugs.
I'm blaming this book for the start of the corruption of my sanity.

Raíces de un género

-- Año: 1846
-- Toda clase de imaginación gráfica.

The best takeaway of the book of Nonsense is to contribute more nonsense, so I wrote my first limerick, a clumsy imitation:

There was a Young Lady of Aton,
who loved nothing but quantum;
She wrote on the whiteboard,
fiddled with the odd, but she got weary and
dozed under the black curtain.

I grew up reading A Book of Nonsense, which left me with a permanent weakness for limericks. (It's possible that there were other side-effects too). Here's my favourite Lear:

There was an old man of Thermopylae
Who never did anything properly
But they said, if you choose
To boil eggs in your shoes
You will never remain in Thermopylae!

I'm afraid I kept thinking of this all the way through 300, which did rather take the edge off it. Though to be honest, the art of the limerick has advanced significantly since Lear's pioneering efforts - a major breakthrough was realising that the first and last lines didn't have to end with the same word. Some more favourites:

There was a young fellow named Tate
Who dined with his girl, at 8.08
But I'd hate to relate
What that fellow named Tate
And his tête-à-tête ate at 8.08.

She frowned and called him Mr.
Because he boldly Kr.
And so in spite
That very night
That Mr. Kr. Sr.

(Non-Brits may have trouble with the next example)

There was a young curate from Salisbury
Whose manners were quite halisbury-scalisbury
Once morning in Hampshire
He took off his pampshire
Though his vicar had told him to walisbury

Last and, in a certain sense, least, I only discovered the following sequence of minimalist limericks very recently. I'm surprised it isn't more famous! First:

There was a young lady of Crewe
Whose limericks stopped at line two

Having read that, you'll hopefully appreciate the logical continuation:

There was a young man of Verdun

And then, of course there's the third one. It appears that limerick technology is still advancing...

Though the repetition also makes it easy to start unconsciously skimming, I also like how hypnotic the repetition is, and the illustrations are great too.

Such silliness! I remember this as having been printed in its entirety in a Better Homes & Gardens (I think) children's anthology now infamous for also having contained "Little Black Sambo."
I saw one on ebay a couple of years ago for over $100.
The Edward Lear book was probably my second exposure to British humor, the first being Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, which my mother played and sang along to on our hifi starting when I was a wee sprout.

There was a Young Person of Smyrna,

Whose Grandmother threatened to burn her;

But she seized on the Cat,

And said, "Granny, burn that!

"You incongruous Old Woman of Smyrna!"




I'm sure this was hilarious a million years ago. First book I read on our iPad.

A fun read and complete nonsense :)

An amusing collection of silly rhymes.

Can't wait to start reading this to my son, to show him how silly words and poetry can be. I have to go back and mark my favorite limericks though because while many tickle the funny-bone others can be skipped.

I thought it was nonsense.

There was a woman from Sparta who read
From a cart full of books by her bed
She started the new year
With some poems by Lear
This bookworm from Sparta who read

• • •

Popsugar Reading Challenge 2024 Prompt: a collection of at least 24 poems

Around the Year in 52 Books 2024 Prompt: a book that is not a novel

Review: I remember being introduced to Edward Lear very briefly in a high school English class, but I definitely did not appreciate his limericks at the time. Now as an adult, I realize how brilliantly funny they are and have a whole new appreciation for this artist and poet. James Wines’s illustrations are whimsical and detailed, and complement the poems beautifully!