"The Owl and the Pussy-cat" is a

nonsense poem Nonsense verse is a form of nonsense literature usually employing strong prosodic elements like rhythm and rhyme. It is often whimsical and humorous in tone and employs some of the techniques of nonsense literature. Limericks are probably th ...

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal ...

, first published in 1870 in the American magazine '' Our Young Folks: an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls'' and again the following year in Lear's own book ''Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets''. Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl, Janet Symonds, the daughter of Lear's friend and fellow poet

John Addington Symonds John Addington Symonds, Jr. (; 5 October 1840 – 19 April 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although m ...

and his wife Catherine Symonds. The term "

runcible "Runcible" is a nonsense word invented by Edward Lear. The word appears (as an adjective) several times in his works, most famously as the "runcible spoon" used by the The Owl and the Pussycat, Owl and the Pussycat. The word "runcible" was apparen ...

", used for the phrase "runcible spoon", was invented for the poem.

Synopsis

"The Owl and the Pussy-cat" features four

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

animals – an owl, a cat, a pig, and a turkey – and tells the story of the love between the title characters who marry in the land "where the Bong-tree grows".

Unfinished sequel

Portions of an unfinished sequel, "The Children of the Owl and the Pussy-cat" were published first posthumously, during 1938. The children are part fowl and part cat, and love to eat mice. The family live by places with strange names. The Cat dies, falling from a tall tree, leaving the Owl a single parent. The death causes the Owl great sadness. The money is all spent, but the Owl still sings to the original guitar.

Media

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

wrote a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

, ''

The Tale of Little Pig Robinson ''The Tale of Little Pig Robinson'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter as part of the Peter Rabbit series. The book contains eight chapters and numerous illustrations. Though the book was one of Potter's last publi ...

'', telling the background story of the pig character. *The story has been set to music and animated many times, such as by: **

Humphrey Searle Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoen ...

in 1951, using twelve-tone technique for the accompanying flute, guitar, and cello, but

sprechgesang (, "spoken singing") and (, "spoken voice") are expressionist vocal techniques between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, ''Sprechgesang'' is directly related to the operatic ''recitative'' manner of singing (in which p ...

for the vocal part **

Elton Hayes Elton Hayes (16 February 1915 – 23 September 2001) was a British actor and guitarist. Life and career Elton Hayes was born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England. Both his parents were actors and he made his first stage appearance aged nine ...

made a recording of the Hely-Hutchinson setting for

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

. during 1953. * It was the main topic of ''The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See...'', a 1968 children's musical play about Lear's nonsense poems. The play was written by

Sheila Ruskin Sheila Ruskin (born 28 March 1946) is an English actress. She played Vipsania in the BBC adaptation of '' I, Claudius'' (1976), Kassia in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Keeper of Traken'' (1981) and Alta One in the ''Blake's 7'' episode "Redemp ...

and David Wood. * In 1998, Naxos Records produced album "Seven Ages: An Anthology of Poetry with Music" which contains a recording of

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

reading ''The Owl and the Pussycat'' on track 15. * Composer Deborah Kavasch of the Extended Vocal Techniques Ensemble (established at the University of California, San Diego, 1972) composed ''The Owl and the Pussycat'', a setting of the poem, for the ensemble. It was published in 1980 by Edition Reimers. * American avant-garde artist and composer

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

’s 5th album, '' Bright Red'' (1994) features the track ″Beautiful Pea Green Boat″ with additional lyrics from the poem.

References

External links

*
The Owl and the Pussy-cat in many languages
(archive from 1 August 2015; accessed 10 July 2019)

– audio of The Owl and The Pussycat (''Anthology of English Verse'', vol. 1)
"Pea Green Boat"
by comedian

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

''The Owl and the Pussycat''
by Storynory
"The Owl & the Pussycat"
recited by Dawn Miceli from '' The Dawn and Drew Show''
Tales of Curiosity short video, text and images of The Owl and the Pussy-catSetting of poem as a song by Ronald Corp
performed by Mark Stone and Simon Lepper
"The Owl & the Pussycat"
by Elton Hayes {{DEFAULTSORT:Owl And The Pussycat 1871 poems 19th-century British children's literature Children's poems Fictional guitarists Poetry by Edward Lear Poems about birds

Synopsis

Unfinished sequel

Media

See also

References

External links