Edward Lear
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"Edward Lear" was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry)/limericks, a form he popularised. His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to illustrate birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred Tennyson's poems. As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes, and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.

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There was an old man with a beard, Who said: 'It is just as I feared! Two owls and a hen, Four larks and a wren Have all built their nests in my beard.

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.

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.

And who so happy,- O who, / As the Duck and the Kangaroo?

There was an old Man who said, `Hush! / I perceive a young bird in this bush!' / When they said, `Is it small?' / He replied, `Not at all!/ It is four times as big as the bush!'

Two old Bachelors were living in one house;/ One caught a Muffin, the other caught a Mouse.

I was much distressed by next door people who had twin babies and played the violin; but one of the twins died, and the other has eaten the fiddle, so all is peace.

And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart,/ And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart.

The Pobble who has no toes / Had once as many as we; / When they said, `Some day you may lose them all'; / He replied - `Fish fiddle de-dee!'