Since there are so many Lear fans out there, (all four of us!!) I feel I must share this. I looked everywhere online, and couldn't find a link, so I have found the ACTUAL BOOK to copy down a Poem about Edward Lear, by his biographer Peter Levi. As far as I can tell, this is the only online version!
Edward Lear
is available from Amazon, cheap!
(ahem...)
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
Who has written such volumes of stuff!
Some think him ill-tempered and queer, But a few find him pleasant enough.
His mind is concrete and fastidious,
His nose is remarkably big;
His visage is more or less hideous,
His beard it resembles a wig.
He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,
Leastaways if you reckon two thumbs;
Long ago he was one of the singers,
But now he is one of the dumbs.
He sits in a beautiful parlour,
With hundreds of books on the wall;
He drinks a great deal of Marsala,
But never gets tipsy at all.
He has many friends, laymen and clerical;
Old Foss is the name of his cat;
His body is perfectly spherical,
He weareth a runcible hat.
When he walks in a waterproof white,
The children run after him so!
Calling out, "He's come out in his night-
Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!"
He weeps by the side of the ocean,
He weeps on the top of the hill;
He purchases pancakes and lotion,
And chocolate shrimps from the mill.
He reads but he cannot speak Spanish,
He cannot abide ginger-beer:
Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish,
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
The above poem is found just before the introduction of "Edward Lear, A Biography". I will not say that the rest of the book is a gripping, excitement-filled Joyride through Victorian Lifestyles and Times. It isn't. In fact, I haven't read the book properly at all. (I did look at the drawings!) Mum did, and recommends it highly. Edward Lear was his parents' TWENTIETH CHILD, by the way. Let's stop and think about that, shall we? It is said that his mother was often unwell. Dude, after twenty kids, I would have been SO unwell! What a life!
Edward Lear
is available from Amazon, cheap!(ahem...)
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
Who has written such volumes of stuff!
Some think him ill-tempered and queer, But a few find him pleasant enough.
His mind is concrete and fastidious,
His nose is remarkably big;
His visage is more or less hideous,
His beard it resembles a wig.
He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,
Leastaways if you reckon two thumbs;
Long ago he was one of the singers,
But now he is one of the dumbs.
He sits in a beautiful parlour,
With hundreds of books on the wall;
He drinks a great deal of Marsala,
But never gets tipsy at all.
He has many friends, laymen and clerical;
Old Foss is the name of his cat;
His body is perfectly spherical,
He weareth a runcible hat.
When he walks in a waterproof white,
The children run after him so!
Calling out, "He's come out in his night-
Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!"
He weeps by the side of the ocean,
He weeps on the top of the hill;
He purchases pancakes and lotion,
And chocolate shrimps from the mill.
He reads but he cannot speak Spanish,
He cannot abide ginger-beer:
Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish,
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
The above poem is found just before the introduction of "Edward Lear, A Biography". I will not say that the rest of the book is a gripping, excitement-filled Joyride through Victorian Lifestyles and Times. It isn't. In fact, I haven't read the book properly at all. (I did look at the drawings!) Mum did, and recommends it highly. Edward Lear was his parents' TWENTIETH CHILD, by the way. Let's stop and think about that, shall we? It is said that his mother was often unwell. Dude, after twenty kids, I would have been SO unwell! What a life!
Comments
Your fellow Lear Fan:)
His beard it resembles a wig..."
i love it. thank you!