Poetry analysis: The Owl and The Pussycat, by Edward Lear

Don't you love hearing the gleeful giggles of a child's reaction to a completely silly rhyme? It doesn't have to be real; it doesn't even have to make sense; its only purpose is to delight. "The Owl and the Pussycat" is about as silly and nonsensical a poem as you can get. Even the staunchest grump has to smile at the ridiculous paring of an owl and a cat going to sea in a "pea green boat". Edward Lear composed his Book of Nonsense rhymes in 1846 for the grandchildren of the Earl of Derby. England was in great need of humor at that time. The influence of the church during the Victorian age denied children a lot of the merriment of play. Lear's poems provided an outlet to the rigidity of their education and introduced a new form of humor that was both tender and melancholy, the limerick. While is is not exactly new, Lear is credited with being the creator of the modern limerick because of the widespread attention he brought to it. Studies of Lear's life and habits reveal a darker side to his writing, but if you look at his limericks with the innocence of child, you can simply enjoy them for the nonsense rhymes they are. "The Owl and the Pussycat" is probably his most remembered limerick. He took his inspiration for it from Janet Symonds, the daughter of a friend. It is only 3 stanzas long, and each has a similar form, meter and rhyming pattern. Like modern children's limericks, it uses animals to relate a story. The Owl and the Pussycat get married by the Turkey, after buying a ring from the Piggy-wig. It's a silly story because it is unlikely, it uses made up words and it pokes fun at the realities of life. But it appeals to a child's sense of wonder and play. The poem is accompanied by Lear's humorous drawings, which add a visual impact to the silliness. Lear was the twentieth of twenty-one children and was raised mainly by a sister that was twenty-two years older than he. Being one of the youngest children in such a large family, Lear probably had to struggle to be heard and fit in. Because he was homosexual, he probably felt excluded from normal society as well. Joking and humor might have

been attempts to gain acceptance, and may partially explain why he ventured down that path. Some claim that Lear was preoccupied with phallic noses. Many of his humorous drawings show illogical characters with very long noses. Many of the "cartoon" type drawings also show characters out of proportion and even contrary to the poetry they illustrate. This is presumed to be a joyous expression of his release from inhibitions. Many people read a lot into what Lear's animal characters represent. Some point to contemporary artists and show how his characters have evolved. It is possible that Lear had enormously deep meaning for everything he did, but I prefer to think he simply aimed to bring joy to a child. Lear's father was sent to debtors' prison when he was thirteen, so he had to work to bring money into the house. He became a very well know painter of flowers, butterflies and birds. As time passed, he began painting landscapes, traveling extensively to capture new scenes. He published several volumes of travel journals as "The Illustrated Travels of a Landscape Painter". His work was popular and highly respected in his time, but has largely been ignored in modern times. Lear's nonsense rhymes, particularly "The Owl and the Pussycat", have remained beloved and timeless. Whether he intended to or not, he gave us a new kind of humor that pokes fun of the everyday things in life and makes us laugh. That is a strong enough legacy for an artist.