Nonsense Poems - Dover Children's Thrift Classics Author:Edward Lear Generations of children and adults have delighted in the whimsical poems of Edward Lear (1812–1888). And, despite his achievements as a noted English landscape painter and illustrator of animal life, Lear today is best known for his delightful volumes of nonsense verse. This work spanned several generations — from the first charming ... more »lines he wrote in the 1830s for the children of the Earl of Derby to his last collection of poems published in !877.
This volume contains a rich sampling of Lear's inspired nonsense, including more than 90 limericks, as well as a choice selection of longer poems, along with the amusing illustrations he drew for each. Among these are such classics as "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Jumblies", as well as a number of lesser-known but equally charming selections: "Incidents in the Life of My Uncle Arly", "The Duck and the Kangaroo", "Calico Pie", "The Daddy Long-legs and the Fly" "The Broom, the Shovel, the Poker, and the Tongs", "Mr. and Mrs. Spikky Sparrow", and "The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò".
For many adults, this can also be an amusing vocabulary builder, if accompanied by a dictionary. Many of the limericks have one word, usually an adjective, that is not in common use today, yet has a useful meaning. Knowing its meaning can add to the humor of the limerick. The dictionary holds a surprise for one of these words!« less