| | On the 29th of January 1888 Edward Lear died. He was an English artist, illustrator and writer known for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form which he popularised. He was born in Highgate, a suburb of London, on the 12th May 1812 and was the 20th child of Ann and Jeremiah Lear. He was raised by his eldest sister, Ann, twenty-one years his senior.
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| He travelled widely in his life and died in San Remo, Italy In 1846 Lear published A Book of Nonsense, a volume of limericks, which went through three editions and in 1867 his most famous piece of nonsense, The Owl and the Pussycat。It begins like this: 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 limerick, which he made famous, is a short five-line poem. They usually start with the line "There was a young or old man or woman from some place or other."
For example here is one of Edward Lear's: 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 here is one from in2english: "There was a young man from Beijing, Who was told that he never would sing, He tried and he tried Until the day that he died But the only sound he produced was a "ping!"
Why don't you try and write one!
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