Might this be the most beautiful of all love poems? Our daughter had it read at her wedding by a friend, and when she read “they were married next day by the turkey who lives on the hill,” she gave the vicar a sly look.  Edward Lear (1812-1888) was gay and had an unrequited love for a male friend, which I can well imagine helped him find the love in The Owl and the Pussycat. The poem is classified as a nonsense poem for children. Some of it is nonsense, and children love the poem. We read it to our children so often that my wife can remember it without having consciously tried to do so. But it seems to me much beyond nonsense, and what lover with any spark of poetry could not love to read it to his, her, or their lover? I particularly like the last five lines:

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 repetition of The Moon, The Moon is for me exquisite, and I see them there, dancing forever.

The owl and the Pussy Cat

I 

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!” 

II 

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. 

III 

“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.