By Edward Lear
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.
. . . . .
Sharing one of my favourite poems with you this Sunday morning.
I used to read it to the boys when they were little –
Small Man would dance around “by the light of the moon” as I read it.
Hope you’re all having a gentle, mellow weekend. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I recite this to my girls all the time. A favourite in this house too :)
I still love it to this day, Pam! :)
Lucy and Carly Simon made a recording back in the 70’s of this and other favorite children’s verses. I sang this song to both of my children- love the pictures in your book !
Thanks for sharing this today- it brought the many happy memories of sharing it with my boys!
I never knew there was a song, Heidi! I’ll be on the lookout for it! Thanks! :)
One of my favourites too – we had a beautifully illustrated book and I’d read it to my girls. I know it by heart because of this. Love the nonsense word ‘runcible’ . Actually have had a mellow and relaxing weekend (long due to Islamic New Year) for once. Hope you do too Celia.
Sally, it’s been a really nice weekend so far! I only discovered today that “runcible” was created by Edward Lear – that’s my favourite line too – mince and quince with a runcible spoon! :)
It is an old favourite of mine too. just lovely
Have a great weekend, Claire! Are you working on the new plot?
Sadly no, the weather has been miserable and the first job I need to do is plant the garlic !
My FAVOURITE one to recite to my kiddos as well. I never get tired of it.
xxxx
It never gets old, does it, Brydie.. :) Nice to know your kids are enjoying it as much as mine did!
Celia thank you for this poem which I remember as a particular favourite of mine when I was a child and it became a favourite of my 2 children as they were growing up too. Perhaps that was the start of my love of all things Owl :o)
Granny, it’s really stood the test of time, hasn’t it? :) An owl collection sounds interesting – I love them too!
I was once informed – by a very well meaning but often misguided friend- that a runcible spoon is one of those spoons with a hole in the bowl, or a gap in the lip that extends into the bowl area. It is a splendid word -use it in a sentence today! Thanks for the reminder of this great poem.
Amanda, I just had a look on Wiki – apparently “runcible” is a word invented by Edward Lear! :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runcible
I love The Owl and the Pussycat and remember it well. It’s so beautifully written and fires up your child’s imagination as you read it to them xx
It really has everything, doesn’t it, Charlie? Inter-species elopement, a wedding feast, music, the lot! :D
Well, there you go. I’ve already learned something before finishing my second cup of tea of the day! Always the teacher, Celia!
I only looked it up this morning after reading your comment, so thank YOU! :)
Thanks for the smiles, Celia. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your Sunday.
John, I did indeed, thank you! We did some cooking for the freezer (stocking it with cooked black beans and Great Northern beans), baked two batches of bread, and had tea with one of the neighbours who dropped by for a visit. Doesn’t get better! Hope yours is going well too! :)
Will look for a copy for our great grandsons, yes we are old.
Hardly! You and John are eternally young, Roz! :)
I love this book too. I remember reading it to Brandon when he was little…..he is 40 next year!
Debra, it’s really stood the test of time, hasn’t it? :)
Lovely Celia…gentle and mellow are two great things to keep in mind for the day. Happy Sunday.
Thanks Jane! Hope your day has been glorious!
Hehe I recite this to Mr NQN all the time! :D We both love it :)
It’s a great poem, isn’t it? xx
I love visiting your site – I feel educated, entertained or cuddled every time. I’m trying to be mellow with all the storms up here.
Thanks Maureen! I hope the weather is ok – we’ve been blessed with sunshine this weekend, but we had big storms last week.. x
I totally agree with Maureen. Thankfully we are not having a storm.
Norma, I’m glad to hear that – I think you’ve had quite enough storms for a while! xx
How serendipitous, I was just drawing a scene from this for my portfolio. Beautiful words, Maz
Oooh, hope we get to see it, Maz! :)
This reminds me of my grandmother, thank you :)
You’re most welcome, Tandy! xx
It’s fun isn’t it. I so much miss reading to children.
Jan, I read to Pete now. :)
I love this poem! I still have my Winnie the Pooh and AA Milne poetry books that I got for my 6th birthday. My favourite from those is the Doctor and the Dormouse :) Geraniums red and delphiniums blue…
Becca, that’s amazing! I have WtP volumes for both the boys too!
Love it – thanks for sharing! Brought back memories of childhood and I am still a reader as an adult:) Happy Day!
Thanks Renee, glad you enjoyed it!
The first four lines of this often get stuck in my head and it makes me smile. My mum was a great one for reading to my brother and I when we were little, but never really went in for poetry. I can’t remember where I first heard it but happy and mellow are the right words to describe the mood it conjures up.
Caroline, it sounds like your mum read a lot to you as kids – I remember you telling me about her reading Thomas the Tank to your brother as well. Lucky you! :)
Thanks for sharing with us! It is lovely to read!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sophie! :)
Aww how lovely Celia. Thanks for sharing.
Claire, we all grow up too fast, don’t we? :)
I know nothing about kids’ poems in English, so I enjoyed this quite a bit…
I had a nice weekend, made some bread… ;-)
Sally, sounds like a great weekend indeed! xx
i haven’t heard that poem since i was a child. i’m afraid i only remember the first two lines. it’s quite lovely, isn’t it?
the weekend seems far away and already i am wishing my life away, waiting for the next one.
E, I know how you feel! It’s only Tuesday, but I’m wishing the rest of the week away already! :)
This is such a favorite of mine.. as a child and then later as a mother and kindergarten teacher. I have to tell you.. I assumed that first photo was the top of a cake.. and I thought, “Only Celia could pull that one off so perfectly!!” It reminds me of “Where the Wild Things Are” and my own little kids:)
I loved it loved it… :) Thank you dear Celia, love, nia