(12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888 / London / England)

poet Edward Lear
#80 on top 500 poets

Quotations

  • ''Calico Pie,
    The little Birds fly
    Down to the calico tree,
    Their wings were blue,
    And they sang "Tilly-loo!"
    Till away they flew—
    And they never came back to me!''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. Calico Pie (l. 1-6). . . Faber Book of Children's Verse, The. Janet Adam Smith, comp. (1953; paperback 1963) Faber and Faber.
    163 person liked.
    		66 person did not like.
  • ''\'How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!'
    Who has written such volumes of stuff!
    Some think him ill-tempered and queer,
    But a few think him pleasant enough.''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear (l. 1-4). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.
    157 person liked.
    		58 person did not like.
  • ''Who, or why, or which, or what,
    Is the Ahkond of Swat?''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Ahkond of Swat (l. 1-2). . . Faber Book of Nonsense Verse, The. Geoffrey Grigson, ed. (1979) Faber and Faber.
    85 person liked.
    		83 person did not like.
  • ''On the Coast of Coromandel
    Where the early pumpkins blow,
    In the middle of the woods
    Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.
    Two old chairs, and half a candle,—
    One old jug without a handle,—
    These were all his worldly goods:
    In the middle of the woods,''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo (l. 1-8). . . Oxford Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. Frank Kermode and John Hollander, general eds. (1973) Oxford University Press (Also published as six paperback vols.: Medieval English Literature, J. B. Trapp, ed.; The Literature of Renaissance England, John Hollander and Frank Kermode, eds.; The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, Martin Price, ed.; Romantic Poetry and Prose, Harold Bloom and Lionel Trilling, eds.; Victorian Prose and Poetry, Lionel Trilling and Harold Bloom, eds.; Modern British Literature, Frank Kermode and John Hollander, eds.).
    124 person liked.
    		55 person did not like.
  • ''I would be your wife most gladly!'
    (Here she twirled her fingers madly)
    'But in England I've a mate!
    Yes! you've asked me far too late,
    For in England I've a mate,''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo (l. 46-50). . . Oxford Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. Frank Kermode and John Hollander, general eds. (1973) Oxford University Press (Also published as six paperback vols.: Medieval English Literature, J. B. Trapp, ed.; The Literature of Renaissance England, John Hollander and Frank Kermode, eds.; The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, Martin Price, ed.; Romantic Poetry and Prose, Harold Bloom and Lionel Trilling, eds.; Victorian Prose and Poetry, Lionel Trilling and Harold Bloom, eds.; Modern British Literature, Frank Kermode and John Hollander, eds.).
    17 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''When awful darkness and silence reign
    Over the great Gromboolian plain,
    Through the long, long wintry nights;—''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Dong with a Luminous Nose (l. 1-3). . . New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse, The. Christopher Ricks, ed. (1987) Oxford University Press.
    13 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''Far and few, far and few,
    Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
    Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
    And they went to sea in a Sieve.''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Jumblies (l. 11-14). . . Norton Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. M. H. Abrams, general ed. (5th ed., 1986) W. W. Norton & Company.
    21 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • ''They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
    In a Sieve they went to sea:
    In spite of all their friends could say,
    On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Jumblies (l. 1-4). . . Norton Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. M. H. Abrams, general ed. (5th ed., 1986) W. W. Norton & Company.
    14 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
    They danced by the light of the moon,''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Owl and the Pussy-cat (l. 29-30). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.
    15 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • ''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.''
    Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Owl and the Pussy-cat (l. 1-4). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.
    26 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.

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The Jumblies

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, `You'll all be drowned!'
They called aloud, `Our Sieve ain't big,
But we don't care a button! we don't care a fig!

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