Tuesday 2 June 2009

A Bit of Culture

I think this blog is lacking in culture. So today's post will be a poem. This poem is dedicated to the owls who sit silently and wisely on the electric wires in our neighbourhood. Also to the many cats who I try to befriend. So far, they have run away, hissed at me or taken a swipe at me but I will persist. Sooner or later they will realise I am a friendly hound. Enjoy this poem and I encourage you to find a human to read it out loud to you, or just read it out loud yourself if you happen to be a human. 

The Owl And The Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear
I
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!'

II
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. 

III
'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.

This is described as 'nonsense poetry,' which I find odd. Of all the things written and said by humans, this is probably the most sensible.

Life is great when unlikely relationships are so successful.



7 comments:

Jean said...

When I was a wee child, many eons ago, this was my favourite poem! My mom and dad read it to me over and over again, from a great big book of children's poetry. What a delight to start my morning by reading this poem on your blog!

I shall read it aloud to my dogs, who are currently barking through the window at some people who dare to jog down THEIR road at six AM.

Amber and Nala said...

Great poem....never heard of nonsense poetry. :)

Unknown said...

Hi Ruby,

I try to make friends with the cats in my neighbourhood too...with the same result as you!! But like you, I'm persisting... :-)

That's a cool poem - my human says she's read it before and thinks it's really cute, especially the pictures she's seen to go with it!

Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane

AiringMyLaundry said...

I like that :)

Dughallmor Beagles said...

Oh wow! We haven't visited you in ages and when we do, you've posted our Mum's very favourite poem, thank you Ruby :D And strangely....we went somewhere we don't often go today.....and the town has a statue of the Owl and the Pussycat, we must go back with the camera!
Slobbers xx

frogpondsrock said...

I have just come over here from(Nicky's)Dughallmor Beagles. You have a lovely blog. The owl and the pussycat is one of my favourite poems. I published some photos of the moon recently and used a line from the poem as the title. All the best Kim

Domi said...

Where have you been Ruby? It's been forever since you posted. I miss you.

Tailwags,
Domi