Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

"How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear!" by Edward Lear

“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.

His mind is concrete and fastidious,

      His nose is remarkably big;

His visage is more or less hideous,

      His beard it resembles a wig.

Sponsored
Sponsored

He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,

      Leastways if you reckon two thumbs;

Long ago he was one of the singers,

      But now he is one of the dumbs.

He sits in a beautiful parlour,

      With hundreds of books on the wall;

He drinks a great deal of Marsala,

      But never gets tipsy at all.

He has many friends, lay men and clerical,

      Old Foss is the name of his cat;

His body is perfectly spherical,

      He weareth a runcible hat.

When he walks in waterproof white,

      The children run after him so!

Calling out, “He’s gone out in his night-

      Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!”

He weeps by the side of the ocean,

      He weeps on the top of the hill;

He purchases pancakes and lotion,

      And chocolate shrimps from the mill.

He reads, but he cannot speak, Spanish,

      He cannot abide ginger beer:

Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish,

      How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!


During his lifetime, Edward Lear (1812–1888) was a well-established artist and illustrator who did colored drawings of birds and animals, beginning his career as an ornithological draftsman for the British Zoological Society and then working as an artist for the British Museum. Although his artistic work is still well regarded, his fame rests with the nonsense poems that he wrote for children. In 1846, Lear published
A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks that is largely responsible for popularizing the form. In 1867, he published his most famous nonsense poem, “The Owl and the Pussycat,” which he wrote for the children of his friend Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. Lear, who suffered from epilepsy and severe bouts of depression all his life, never married.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Imperial Beach renters scramble

Hawaiian Gardens and Sussex Gardens inhabitants fear remodel evictions
Next Article

San Diego car vandals – getting bolder?

Tesla Cybertruck throws down the gauntlet

“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.

His mind is concrete and fastidious,

      His nose is remarkably big;

His visage is more or less hideous,

      His beard it resembles a wig.

Sponsored
Sponsored

He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,

      Leastways if you reckon two thumbs;

Long ago he was one of the singers,

      But now he is one of the dumbs.

He sits in a beautiful parlour,

      With hundreds of books on the wall;

He drinks a great deal of Marsala,

      But never gets tipsy at all.

He has many friends, lay men and clerical,

      Old Foss is the name of his cat;

His body is perfectly spherical,

      He weareth a runcible hat.

When he walks in waterproof white,

      The children run after him so!

Calling out, “He’s gone out in his night-

      Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!”

He weeps by the side of the ocean,

      He weeps on the top of the hill;

He purchases pancakes and lotion,

      And chocolate shrimps from the mill.

He reads, but he cannot speak, Spanish,

      He cannot abide ginger beer:

Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish,

      How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!


During his lifetime, Edward Lear (1812–1888) was a well-established artist and illustrator who did colored drawings of birds and animals, beginning his career as an ornithological draftsman for the British Zoological Society and then working as an artist for the British Museum. Although his artistic work is still well regarded, his fame rests with the nonsense poems that he wrote for children. In 1846, Lear published
A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks that is largely responsible for popularizing the form. In 1867, he published his most famous nonsense poem, “The Owl and the Pussycat,” which he wrote for the children of his friend Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. Lear, who suffered from epilepsy and severe bouts of depression all his life, never married.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Fateful picnic at Grandview beach in Encinitas

Davis family sues after three of them crushed by sandstone cliff
Next Article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader