By: Sitti Fatimah Saleng
State University of Malang
BIOGRAPHY
OF THE POET
Edward Lear
The British poet and painter known for his absurd wit, Edward Lear was born in 1812 and began his career as an artist at age 15. His father, a stockbroker of Danish origins, was sent to debtor's prison when Lear was thirteen and the young Lear was forced to earn a living. Lear quickly gained recognition for his work and in 1832 was hired by the London Zoological Society to execute illustrations of birds. In the same year, the Earl of Derby invited Lear to reside at his estate; Lear ended up staying on until 1836.His first book of poems, A Book of Nonsense (1846) was composed for the grandchildren of the Derby household. Around 1836 Lear decided to devote himself exclusively to landscape painting (although he continued to compose light verse). Between 1837 and 1847 Lear traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia.
After his return to England, Lear's travel journals were published in several volumes as The Illustrated Travels of a Landscape Painter. Popular and respected in his day, Lear's travel books have largely been ignored in the twentieth century. Rather, Lear is remembered for his humorous poems, such as "The Owl and the Pussycat," and as the creator of the form and meter of the modern limerick. Like his younger peer Lewis Carroll, Lear wrote many deeply fantastical poems about imaginary creatures, such as "The Dong with the Luminous Nose." His books of humorous verse also include Nonsense Songs (1871) and Laughable Lyrics (1877). Lear died in 1888 at the age of 76.
THE POEM
The Owl and the Pussy Cat
by Edward Lear
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.
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!"
Pussy said to the Owl, "You
elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we
have tarried:
But what shall we do for a
ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a
day,
To the land where the Bong-tree
grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
"Dear Pig, are you willing to
sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy,
"I will."
So they took it away, and were
married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
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,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon
SYNOPSIS
"The Owl and the Pussycat" features four anthropomorphic 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".The Owl and the Pussycat set out to sea in a pea green boat with honey and "plenty of money" wrapped in a five pound note. The Owl serenades the Pussycat while gazing at the stars and strumming on a small guitar. He describes her as beautiful. The Pussycat responds by describing the Owl as an "elegant fowl" and compliments him on his singing. She urges they marry but they don't have a ring. They sail away for a year and a day to a land where Bong-trees grow and discover a pig with a ring in his nose in a wood. They buy the ring for a shilling and are married the next day by a turkey. They dine on mince and quince using a "runcible spoon", then dance hand-in-hand on the sand in the moonlight.
POETRY
ANALYSIS
a.
Language Style
The emphasis on the aesthetics of
language and the use of techniques such as repetition, meter and rhyme are what
are commonly used to distinguish English poetry from English prose. Poems often
make heavy use of imagery and word association to quickly convey emotions. It is lyrical and easy to understand, but the
word 'runcible' and ‘Bong-tree’ does not exist in the English language and were
coined for this poem adding to it's nonsensical theme.
b.
Theme
The theme of poem “The Owl and
the Pussy Cat” is love/marriage.
c.
Poetic form
This poem is Rhyme verse Forms.
Stanza I: a-b-c-b-c-d-c-d-d-d-d
Stanza II: a-b-c-b-d-e-c-e-e-e
Stanza III: a-b-c-b-d-e-f-e-e-e
d.
Poetic device
·
Rhyme
Internal
rhyme
·
They
took some honey, and plenty of money
·
Pussy
said to the owl, you elegant fowl
·
O
let us be married! Too long we have tarried
·
They
sailed away, for a year and a day
·
And
there in a wood a piggy-wig stood
·
They
dined on mince, and slices of quince
Approximate
/ Half-rhyme
·
In
a beautiful pea-green boat
Wrapped up in a five pound note
·
How
charmingly sweet you sing
But what shall we do for a ring
·
The
owl looked up to the stars above
O
lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love
·
To
the land where the Bong-tree grows
With a ring at the end of his nose
·
Said
the Piggy “I will”
By the Turkey who lives on the hill
·
Rhythm
Stanza
I
v v / v v / v v / v
·
The Owl and the Pussy Cat went to
sea (anapest-trimeter)
v v
/ v v / v
v
·
In a beautiful pea-green boat (anapest-dimeter)
v /
v / v
/ v /
v /
v
·
They took some honey, and plenty of
money (iambic-pentameter)
/ v
/ v /
v / v
·
Wrapped up in a five-pound note. (trochaic-tetrameter)
v v
/ v v /
v v / v
·
The Owl looked up to the stars above
(anapest-trimeter)
v /
v / v
/ v
·
And sang to a small guitar (iambic-trimeter)
v
/ v / v /
v / v
/
·
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my
love, (iambic-pentameter)
/ v /
v / v
/ v /
·
What a beautiful Pussy you are, (trochaic-tetrameter)
v /
·
You are (iambic-monometer)
v /
·
You are! (iambic-monometer)
/ v / v
/ v /
v /
·
What a beautiful Pussy you
are!" (trochaic-tetrameter)
Stanza II
v v / v v
/ v v
/
·
Pussy said to the Owl, "You
elegant fowl! (anapest-trimeter)
v v
/ v v
/ v
·
How charmingly sweet you sing! (anapest- dimeter)
v /
v / v
/ v /
v / v
/
·
O let us be married! too long we
have tarried: (iambic-pentameter)
v /
v / v / v /
·
But what shall we do for a
ring?" (iambic-tetrameter)
v v / v
v / v
v /
·
They sailed away, for a year and a
day, (anapest-trimeter)
v v
/ v v
/ v v
·
To the land where the Bong-tree
grows (anapest-dimeter)
v v
/ v v
/ v v /
v
·
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig
stood (anapest-trimeter)
v v
/ v v
/ v v /
·
With a ring at the end of his nose, (anapest-trimeter)
v /
·
His nose, (iambic-monometer)
v /
·
His nose, (iambic-monometer)
v v
/ v v
/ v v /
·
With a ring at the end of his nose. (anapest-trimeter) – Masculine R
Stanza
III
v v /
v v /
v v /
v v /
·
"Dear Pig, are you willing to
sell for one shilling (anapest-tetrameter)
v / v
v / v
/
·
Your ring?" Said the Piggy,
"I will." (iambic-trimeter)
v v
/ v v / v
v / v
v /
·
So they took it away, and were
married next day (anapest-tetrametr)
v v
/ v v
/ v v /
·
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
(anapest-trimeter)
v / v
/ v /
v /
·
They dined on mince, and slices of
quince, (iambic-tetrameter)
v v /
v v / v v
/
·
Which they ate with a runcible
spoon; (anapest-trimeter)
v /
v / v
/ v /
v /
·
And hand in hand, on the edge of the
sand, (iambic-pentameter)
v / v
/ v /
v /
·
They danced by the light of the
moon, (iambic-tetrameter)
v /
·
The moon, (iambic-monometer)
v /
·
The moon, (iambic-monometer)
v / v
/ v /
v /
·
They danced by the light of the moon. (iambic-tetrameter)
·
Stanza form
The stanza form of this poem is roundel, which
contains eleven lines in each stanza.
·
Repetition
This poem contains so many
repetitions, such as: line 8 and 11 (What a beautiful pussy you are), line 9
and 10 (You are), line 19 and 22 (with a ring at the end of his nose), line 20
and 21 (his nose), line 30 and 33 (They danced by the light of the moon), line
31 and 32 (the moon).
e. Tone
The tone in this poem is happiness or
cheerfulness.
f. Symbol
and Allegory
Ø
Owl: Their large human-like eyes are
associated with intelligence and wisdom. The owl also tend to be quiet,
solitary, relax and enjoy the leisure of life.
Ø
Pussy cat: One who is regarded as easy
going, mild-mannered, or amiable. It is also regarded as a hot chick who is
sexy and naughty.
Ø
Pea-green boat: It could be a romantic setting
for a love affair
Ø Green: symbolic of
the fertile, productive, lush, and amorous qualities of life so beautiful.
Ø
Honey: can be seen as a sweet
indulgence. Perhaps symbolic of the sweet love that the Owl and the Pussycat
shared. And Perhaps the honey is meant as a symbol that the relationship as
before long the two would be on their "honeymoon".
Ø
Bong-tree: They're shaped like a
marshmellow stick and vary in height. They create a fantasy land in which the
two characters marry.
Ø
Ring: Symbolized as marriage vow
Ø
Hog ring: Symbolized that someone is
going to be led around by the nose.
Ø
Turkey: It has a reputation of not being
the most intelligent of birds but it certainly would make a tasty meal for both
the Owl and the Pussycat.
Ø
Mince and quice: a level of sophistication to the
meal.
Ø
Runcible spoon: By today's standards, it would
probably be called a spork, a spoon with three tines.
Ø
The moon: The Owl and the Pussycat both
are known for stalking their prey at night so it should be an inresting honeymoon
under the moonlight for the two lovers.
g. Irony
v It would be impossible to find an
owl and a cat together in the first place and to have them sailing to sea makes
it even more improbable.
v The cat would no doubt see the
bird as prey to serve as her lunch under normal circumstances.
v The cat as well tends to avoid
the water and would certainly feel unstable in a boat. As a result, the two
lovers are silly in their accompaniment.
v The irony of this word choice is
that the remainder of the poem is written in short, quick understandable words
that are suitable for children. Suddenly, Lear breaks the mold by choosing a
word that is a bit archaic and unknown to most people.
h. Moral
Value
If you wanna be
happy, you should find someone that you love and never let her/him go. No
matter she/he is a pretty or ugly, rich or poor, smart or stupid, etc. Marry
and be with her/him till the end of your life.
The Comments about
“The owl and the Pussy Cat” and Its Implication in Language Teaching
This poem is contain ingenious
creativity and unique content. The wonderful illustrated graphics have also
been set to the words of the owl and the pussycat poem helping to fire the
imagination of a child! The
irresistible blend of romance and nonsense in Edward Lear's "The Owl and
the Pussy-cat" has made it a classic enjoyed by generations of young
listeners We can also use this poem as a media to teach listening,
reading, vocabulary.
References
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