Edward Lear Quotes

#1. There was a Young Person of Smyrna,
whose grandmother threatened to burn her;
But she seized on the cat,
and said, Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!

Edward Lear

#2. There was an Old Person of Bray, Who sang through the whole of the day To his ducks and his pigs, whom he fed upon figs, That valuable Person of Bray.

Edward Lear

#3. There was a Young Lady of Poole, Whose soup was excessively cool; So she put it to boil, by the aid of some oil, That ingenious Young Lady of Poole.

Edward Lear

#4. The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat ...

Edward Lear

#5. And they brought an Owl, and a useful Cart, And a pound of Rice, and a CranberryTart, And a hive of silvery Bees. And they brought a Pig, and some green Jack-daws, And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws, and forty Bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree, And no end of Stilton Cheese.

Edward Lear

#6. 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!

Edward Lear

#7. There was a Young Person in pink, Who called out for something to drink; But they said, 'O my daughter, there's nothing but water!' Which vexed that Young Person in pink.

Edward Lear

#8. I am in a very unsettled condition, as the oyster said when they poured melted butter all over his back.

Edward Lear

#9. When awful darkness and silence reign Over the great Gromboolian plain, Through the long, long wintry nights;

Edward Lear

#10. It takes a long time to make a painter - even with a good artist's education - but without one it tries the patience of Job; it is a great thing if one does not go backward.

Edward Lear

#11. 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.

Edward Lear

#12. I was much distressed by next door people who had twin babies and played the violin; but one of the twins died, and the other has eaten the fiddle, so all is peace.

Edward Lear

#13. There was an Old Man with an owl, Who continued to bother and howl; He sate on a rail, and imbibed bitter ale, Which refreshed that Old Man and his owl.

Edward Lear

#14. Who, or why, or which, or what, Is the Akhond of Swat?

Edward Lear

#15. There was an old man with a beard, who said: 'It is just as I feared! Two owls and a hen, four larks and a wren have all built their nests in my beard.

Edward Lear

#16. There was an Old Man of the East, Who gave all his children a feast; But they all ate so much, and their conduct was such, That it killed that Old Man of the East.

Edward Lear

#17. There was an Old Man of Columbia, Who was thirsty, and called out for some beer; But they brought it quite hot, in a small copper pot, Which disgusted that Man of Columbia.

Edward Lear

#18. They danced by the light of the moon.

Edward Lear

#19. Fish fiddle de-dee!

Edward Lear

#20. How pleasant to know Mr Lear! / Who has written such volumes of stuff! / Some think him ill-tempered and queer / But a few think him pleasant enough.

Edward Lear

#21. What will happen to me, as the oyster said when he very inadvertently swallowed the gooseberry bush, nobody can tell.

Edward Lear

#22. 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.

Edward Lear

#23. There was an Old Man of Messina, Whose daughter was named Opsibeena; She wore a small wig, and rode out on a pig, To the perfect delight of Messina.

Edward Lear

#24. And what can we expect if we haven't any dinner, But to lose our teeth and eyelashes and keep on growing thinner?

Edward Lear

#25. It's a fact the whole world knows,
That Pobbles are happier without their toes.

Edward Lear

#26. A vile beastly rottenheaded foolbegotten brazenthroated pernicous piggish screaming, tearing, roaring, perplexing, splitmecrackle crashmecriggle insane ass of a woman is practising howling below-stairs with a brute of a singingmaster so horribly, that my head is nearly off.

Edward Lear

#27. Two old Bachelors were living in one house; One caught a Muffin, the other caught a Mouse.

Edward Lear

#28. They went to sea in a sieve, they did; In a sieve they went to sea; In spite of all their friends could say.

Edward Lear

#29. In the middle of the woods Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo. Two old chairs and half a candle, One old jug without a handle- These were all the worldly goods.

Edward Lear