Monday, April 16, 2012

ABC Wednesday
April 18th, 2010

N is the letter and it stands for Nonsense Poetry by aNonymous and others....


The Great Panjandrum  by Samuel Foote

So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage-leaf
to make an apple pie,
and at the same time
a great she-bear, coming down the street,
pops its head into the shop.
What! no soap?
So he died
and she very imprudently married the Barber;
and there were present
the Picinnies,
and the Joblillies,
and the Garyulies
and the Great Panjandrum himself,
with the little round button at top,
and they fell to playing the game of catch-as-catch can,
till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of their boots.

(there is a nice story about the source of this nonsense verse if you care to Google it)


The Quangle Wangle's Hat by Edward Lear

On the top of the Crumpetty Tree
The Quangle Wangle sat 'But his face you could not see,
On account of his Beaver Hat
For his hat was a hundred and two feet wide,
With ribbons and bibbons on every side
And bells and loops and lace;
So that nobody ever could see the face
Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.

The Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty Tree, -
'Jam and jelly, and bread
Are the best of food for me!
But the longer I live on this Crumpetty Tree
The plainer than ever it seems to me
That very few people come this way
And that life on the whole is far from gay!'
Said the Quangle Wangle Quee.

Well, to make a long story short, as this is a very long poem and you might not 
have time to read it all,
two canaries, The Stork, the duck and the Owl, the Snail and the Bumble bee, a Frog and the Fimble Fowl with the Corkscrew leg, and the Golden Grouse and the Pobble, the small Olympean bear and the Dong with the luminous nose, together with the Blue Baboon who play the flute, the Orient Calf and the Attery Squash - plus the Bisky Bat, all came and asked permission to build their nest on the Quangle Wangle's Hat.

And the Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty tree -
'When all these creatures move
what a wonderful noise there'll be!'
And at night by the light of the Mulberry moon
They danced to the flute of the Blue Baboon,
On the broad green leaves of the Crumpetty Tree, And all were as happy as happy could be,
With the Quangle Wangle Quee.

You could amuse yourselves for hours if you just google 'Nonsense Verses'
and probably giggle a great deal besides.......
You will find many poems by aNonymous there, as well
as it seems to have been a favourite pastime for that sort of fellow.

For more takes on the letter N nod off over to Mrs. Nesbitt's, here.


13 comments:

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Nice nonsense.

The Weaver of Grass said...

It is the lovely way the words resonate that make these nonsense poems so enjoyable Hildred.

Carol said...

A fun post and a funny poem. I enjoyed reading this, Hildred.

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

Sweet! I also bring in nonsense verse and nonsense ideas - and include a different Lear piece. This was great fun...have a great week.

Roger Owen Green said...

so what does it mean that we've had at least THREE nonsense posts this week? good one.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

photowannabe said...

Delightful Nonsense if I do say so myself.
I actually know someone that talks that way and makes about as much sense. (:0)

Leslie: said...

fuNNy! Enjoyed these a lot!

Leslie
abcw team

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

I love nonsense poems and particularly those by Edward Lear. Great choice. A x

Carver said...

Great idea for the letter N. Nonsense poems are such fun. Carver, ABC Wednesday Team

VioletSky said...

I had forgotten about Edward Lear...
and after looking up Samuel Foote, he looks like a rather genial, fun loving sort according to the wikipedia picture!

Lisa said...

Pure nonsense...Pure fun! BTW: I replaced the Pure Imagination YouTube link in my entry. If you want to revisit and watch it, I hope you like it.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Very NEAT!

Nursing to Nuclear Medicine
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I have never heard of aNonymous (well not that one anyway) but Edward Lear has always been a great favorite -- my dad read the Quangle Wangle to us and I read it to my kids. (I loved your 'to make a long story short' -- nice job of summarizing, but I am glad you left in the lines '...plainer than ever it seems to me /that very few people come this way/ and life on the whole is far from gay..." because that was my dad's favorite part! Great illustrations, thanks for the memories and the smiles.