The Owl and the Pussycat
Encyclopedia
Nonsense verse
Nonsense verse is a form of light, often rhythmical verse, usually for children, depicting peculiar characters in amusing and fantastical situations. It is whimsical and humorous in tone and tends to employ fanciful phrases and meaningless made-up words. Nonsense verse is closely related to...
by Edward Lear
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
, first published in 1871.
Background
Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl, Janet Symonds, the daughter of Lear's friend poet John Addington SymondsJohn Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds was an English poet and literary critic. Although he married and had a family, he was an early advocate of male love , which he believed could include pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships. He referred to it as l'amour de l'impossible...
and his wife Catherine Symonds. The term runcible spoon was coined for the poem.
Plot
"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
Quince
The quince , or Cydonia oblonga, is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region...
using a runcible spoon, then dance hand-in-hand on the sand in the moonlight.
Portions of an unfinished sequel, "The Children of the Owl and the Pussycat", were first published posthumously in 1938.
Other media
- The story has been set to music and animated many times, including by Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, John RutterJohn RutterJohn Milford Rutter CBE is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.-Biography:Born in London, Rutter was educated at Highgate School, where a fellow pupil was John Tavener. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the...
, Victor Hely-HutchinsonVictor Hely-HutchinsonChristian Victor Hely-Hutchinson was a British composer, born in Cape Town, Cape Colony ....
, Burl IvesBurl IvesBurl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, Humphrey SearleHumphrey SearleHumphrey Searle was a British composer.-Biography:He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying — somewhat hesitantly — with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton...
and Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
. - Elton HayesElton HayesElton Hayes was a British actor and guitarist.Hayes was born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England. Both his parents were actors and he made his first stage appearance aged nine. He too wanted to be an actor, but he also learned the violin and the ukelele. In his teens, he won a scholarship to...
made a recording of the Hely-Hutchinson setting for ParlophoneParlophoneParlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
in 1953. It became a regular item on Children's FavouritesChildren's FavouritesChildren's Favourites was a BBC Radio programme from 1954 broadcast on the Light Programme on Saturday mornings from 9:00. A precursor had been called Children's Choice after the style of Housewives' Choice....
and was one of six Edward Lear recordings he made. - It was the central focus for a 1968 children's musical play about Lear's nonsense poems, entitled The Owl and the Pussycat went to See.... The play was written by Sheila Ruskin and David WoodDavid Wood (actor)David Wood OBE is an English-born actor and writer, called "the National Children's Dramatist" by The Times.He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and Worcester College, Oxford....
. - The title was borrowed for an unrelated stage play and subsequent 1970 movie starring Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and George SegalGeorge SegalGeorge Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
. - Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
set it to music in 1966. A recording of the work was made under the supervision of the composer for Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. - In 1971, a cartoon based on the poem was made by Weston Woods.
- In the 1968 DisneyThe Walt Disney CompanyThe Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
animated feature Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery DayWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery DayWinnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is a 1968 animated featurette based on stories from the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. The featurette was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution on December 20, 1968 before The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was...
, later a part of 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the PoohThe Many Adventures of Winnie the PoohThe Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is the 22nd full-length animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on March 11, 1977....
, the character OwlOwl (Winnie the Pooh)Owl is a fictional character in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books and in Disney's Winnie the Pooh cartoons. Owl's character is based on the archetype of the "wise old owl", although in the books, the quality of Owl's "wisdom" is sometimes questionable....
mentions a relative of his who supposedly "went to sea in a pea-green boat" with a Pussycat. - The two main characters were the inspiration for X the Owl and Henrietta Pussycat in the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" from Mister Rogers' NeighborhoodMister Rogers' NeighborhoodMister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...
. - Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
composed and recorded a version titled Beautiful Pea Green Boat that appeared on her 1994 album Bright RedBright RedBright Red is the title of performance artist Laurie Anderson's sixth album, released by Warner Bros. in 1994.The album continues the more pop-oriented direction Anderson launched with Strange Angels...
. - Eric IdleEric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
, a former member of Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
, wrote a children's book entitled The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat which was based on the poem. It is an extended story about when the Owl and the Pussycat were attacked by a band of ruthless ratRatRats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s who were out to steal piePieA pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
s. It was illustrated by Wesla Weller and was first published in 1996 with an audio version which included some songs by Idle himself.
External links
- The Owl and the Pussy-cat translation collection
- Reely's Poetry Pages - audio of The Owl and The Pussycat (Anthology of English Verse, Vol. 1)
- Free audiobook from LibriVox
- "Pea Green Boat", by comedian Stewart LeeStewart LeeStewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
. - Free audio of the Owl and the Pussycat by Storynory
- mp3 by Dawn Miceli from The Dawn and Drew ShowThe Dawn and Drew ShowThe Dawn and Drew Show is a podcast starring and produced by a married couple, Dawn Miceli and Drew Domkus . They just recently celebrated their 7th podcast anniversary. The couple moved back to their farmhouse in Wayne, WI after being robbed and nearly killed in their home in Cocles, Costa Rica...
- Tales of Curiosity short video, text and images of The Owl and the Pussy-cat
- http://markstone.info/content/view/219/85/Setting of poem as a song by Ronald CorpRonald CorpRonald Corp is a composer, conductor, and Church of England priest. He is founder and Artistic Director of the New London Orchestra and the New London Children's Choir. Corp is Musical Director of the London Chorus, a position he took up in 1994, and is also Musical Director of the Highgate Choral...
performed by Mark StoneMark Stone (opera singer)- Biography :Born in London 12 June 1969, he studied at Wilson's School, Wallington before going up to King's College, Cambridge to read Mathematics. After graduating in 1990 he worked as a Chartered Accountant and an investment banker before studying singing at the Guildhall School of Music and...
and Simon LepperSimon Lepper- Biography :Born in Canterbury, Lepper read music at King's College, Cambridge and studied piano accompaniment with Michael Dussek at the Royal Academy of Music....
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