“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Summary

“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Themes

• 

  Love, Marriage, and Happiness

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat”

• Lines 1-4

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-11

  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!"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 12-15

  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?"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-22

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 23-26

  "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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 27-33

  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.

  

  

  

  

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“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Symbols

• 

  The Moon

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“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Dialogue

  

  

  

  

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“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Five-pound note
• Fowl
• Tarried
• Bong-Tree
• Ring at the end of his nose
• Shilling
• Mince
• Quince
• Runcible spoon

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Speaker

“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat”

More “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem, Animated — Watch an animated adaptation of "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat."

  • A Reading of the Poem — Actress Judi Dench reads "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat."

  • The Poet's Life — A short biography of Edward Lear, courtesy of the Poetry Foundation.

  • The Poem, Illustrated — View the poem with Lear's original illustrations.

  • The Runcible Spoon — What in the world is a runcible spoon? Find more context here.

  • A Lear Documentary — A short BBC film on the life and art of Edward Lear.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Edward Lear

  • The Dong with a Luminous Nose

  • The Duck and the Kangaroo