| Edward
Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an artist, illustrator and
writer known for his nonsensical poetry and his limericks, a form which
he popularised. He was born in Highgate, a suburb of London, the 20th child
of his parents and was raised by his eldest sister, Ann, twenty-one years
his senior. At the age of fifteen, he and his sister had to leave the family
home and set up house together. He started work as a serious illustrator
and his first publication, at the age of 19, was Illustrations of the Family
of Psittacidae, or Parrots in 1830. His paintings were well received and
he was favourably compared with Audubon. Throughout his life he continued
to paint seriously. He had a lifelong ambition to illustrate Tennyson's
poems; near the end of his life a volume with a small number of illustrations
was published, but his vision for the work was never realised. Lear briefly
gave drawing lessons to Queen Victoria, leading to some awkward incidents
when he failed to observe proper court protocol.
He
did not keep good health. From the age of six until the time of his death
he suffered frequent grand mal epileptic seizures, as well as bronchitis,
asthma, and in later life, partial blindness. Lear experienced his first
epileptic fit while sitting in a tree. Lear felt lifelong guilt and shame
for his epileptic condition. His adult diaries indicate that he always
sensed the onset of a fit in time to remove himself from public view.
How Lear was able to anticipate his fits is not known, but many epileptics
report a ringing in their ears or an itching in their fingers before the
onset of a fit.
In
1846 Lear published A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks which went
through three editions and helped popularise the form. In 1865 The History
of the Seven Families of the Lake Pipple-Popple was published, and in
1867 his most famous piece of nonsense, The Owl and the Pussycat, which
he wrote for the children of his patron Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby.
Many other works followed.
Lear's
nonsense books were quite popular during his lifetime, but a rumour circulated
that "Edward Lear" was merely a pseudonym, and the books' true
author was the man to whom Lear had dedicated the works: his patron the
Earl of Derby. Adherents of this rumour offered as evidence the facts
that both men were named Edward, and that "Lear" is an anagram
of "Earl".
The
Owl and the Pussycat
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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