Calico Pie,
The little Birds fly
Down to the calico tree,
Their wings were blue,
And they sang "Tilly-loo!"
Till away they flew?
And they never came back to me!

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. Calico Pie (l. 1-6). . . Faber Book of Children's Verse, The. Janet Adam Smith, comp. (1953; paperback 1963) Faber and Faber.)

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 (1812-1888), British poet. How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear (l. 1-4). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.)

Who, or why, or which, or what,
Is the Ahkond of Swat?

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Ahkond of Swat (l. 1-2). . . Faber Book of Nonsense Verse, The. Geoffrey Grigson, ed. (1979) Faber and Faber.)

I would be your wife most gladly!'
(Here she twirled her fingers madly)
'But in England I've a mate!
Yes! you've asked me far too late,
For in England I've a mate,

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo (l. 46-50). . . Oxford Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. Frank Kermode and John Hollander, general eds. (1973) Oxford University Press (Also published as six paperback vols.: Medieval English Literature, J. B. Trapp, ed.; The Literature of Renaissance England, John Hollander and Frank Kermode, eds.; The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, Martin Price, ed.; Romantic Poetry and Prose, Harold Bloom and Lionel Trilling, eds.; Victorian Prose and Poetry, Lionel Trilling and Harold Bloom, eds.; Modern British Literature, Frank Kermode and John Hollander, eds.).)

On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
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 his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo (l. 1-8). . . Oxford Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. Frank Kermode and John Hollander, general eds. (1973) Oxford University Press (Also published as six paperback vols.: Medieval English Literature, J. B. Trapp, ed.; The Literature of Renaissance England, John Hollander and Frank Kermode, eds.; The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, Martin Price, ed.; Romantic Poetry and Prose, Harold Bloom and Lionel Trilling, eds.; Victorian Prose and Poetry, Lionel Trilling and Harold Bloom, eds.; Modern British Literature, Frank Kermode and John Hollander, eds.).)

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

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Dong with a Luminous Nose (l. 1-3). . . New Oxford Book of Victorian Verse, The. Christopher Ricks, ed. (1987) Oxford University Press.)

Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Jumblies (l. 11-14). . . Norton Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. M. H. Abrams, general ed. (5th ed., 1986) W. W. Norton & Company.)

They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter's morn, on a stormy day,

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Jumblies (l. 1-4). . . Norton Anthology of English Literature, The, Vols. I-II. M. H. Abrams, general ed. (5th ed., 1986) W. W. Norton & Company.)

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Owl and the Pussy-cat (l. 29-30). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.)

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.

(Edward Lear (1812-1888), British poet. The Owl and the Pussy-cat (l. 1-4). . . New Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250-1950. Helen Gardner, ed. (1972) Oxford University Press.)