Edward Lear (1812-1888)
The Quangle Wangle's Hat
I
1On the top of the Crumpetty Tree
2 The Quangle Wangle sat,
3But his face you could not see,
4 On account of his Beaver Hat.
5For his Hat was a hundred and two feet wide,
6With ribbons and bibbons on every side
7And bells, and buttons, and loops, and lace,
8So that nobody every could see the face
9 Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.
II
10The Quangle Wangle said
11 To himself on the Crumpetty Tree, --
12"Jam; and jelly; and bread;
13 "Are the best of food for me!
14"But the longer I live on this Crumpetty Tree
15"The plainer than ever it seems to me
16"That very few people come this way
17"And that life on the whole is far from gay!"
18 Said the Quangle Wangle Quee.
III
19But there came to the Crumpetty Tree,
20 Mr. and Mrs. Canary;
21And they said, -- "Did every you see
22 "Any spot so charmingly airy?
23"May we build a nest on your lovely Hat?
24"Mr. Quangle Wangle, grant us that!
25"O please let us come and build a nest
26"Of whatever material suits you best,
27 "Mr. Quangle Wangle Quee!"
IV
28And besides, to the Crumpetty Tree
29 Came the Stork, the Duck, and the Owl;
30The Snail, and the Bumble-Bee,
31 The Frog, and the Fimble Fowl;
32(The Fimble Fowl, with a corkscrew leg;)
33And all of them said, -- "We humbly beg,
34"We may build out homes on your lovely Hat, --
35"Mr. Quangle Wangle, grant us that!
36 "Mr. Quangle Wangle Quee!"
V
37And the Golden Grouse came there,
38 And the Pobble who has no toes, --
39And the small Olympian bear, --
40 And the Dong with a luminous nose.
41And the Blue Baboon, who played the Flute, --
42And the Orient Calf from the Land of Tute, --
43And the Attery Squash, and the Bisky Bat, --
44All came and built on the lovely Hat
45 Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.
VI
46And the Quangle Wangle said
47 To himself on the Crumpetty Tree, --
48"When all these creatures move
49 "What a wonderful noise there'll be!"
50And at night by the light of the Mulberry moon
51They danced to the Flute of the Blue Baboon,
52On the broad green leaves of the Crumpetty Tree,
53And all were as happy as happy could be,
54 With the Quangle Wangle Quee.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Edward Lear, Laughable Lyrics: A Fourth Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, Music, &c. (London: Robert John Bush, 1877). Unpaginated. In The Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books 1566-1910, comp. Judith St. John (Toronto: Toronto Public Library, 1975), I.70.
First publication date:
1877
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 2:2002/4/4
Rhyme: ababccdda and variants
Other poems by Edward Lear
