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The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

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For the 1970 film, see The Owl and the Pussycat (film). For the film soundtrack, see The Owl and the Pussycat (album). For the song by Igor Stravinsky, see The Owl and the Pussy Cat (Stravinsky).

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
by Edward Lear
Edward Lear's illustration of the Owl and the Pussycat
IllustratorEdward Lear
CountryUnited Kingdom
Genre(s)Nonsense poem
Publication date1870
Full text
The Owl and the Pussy-cat at Wikisource
Reading of "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat"

"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" is a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, first published in 1870 in the American magazine Our Young Folks[1] and again the following year in Lear's own book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets. Lear wrote the poem for a three-year-old girl, Janet Symonds, the daughter of Lear's friend and fellow poet John Addington Symonds and his wife Catherine Symonds. The term "runcible", used for the phrase "runcible spoon", was invented for the poem. It is believed that the cat in the poem was based on Lear's own pet cat, Foss.[2]

Synopsis

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"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" 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 sail off to marry in the land "where the Bong-tree grows".

Unfinished sequel

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Portions of an unfinished sequel, "The Children of the Owl and the Pussy-cat", were published first posthumously during 1938. The children are part fowl and part cat, and love to eat mice.

The family live by places with strange names. The Cat dies, falling from a tall tree, leaving the Owl a single parent. The death causes the Owl great sadness. The money is all spent, but the Owl still sings to the original guitar.[3]

Derivative works

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British picture book author Beatrix Potter has stated that her work The Tale of Little Pig Robinson is the backstory of the character Piggy from "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat".[4]

The text has been set to music many times, such as by Victor Hely-Hutchinson, whose 1927 setting was recorded by Elton Hayes in 1953 for Parlophone,[5] Humphrey Searle in 1951, using twelve-tone technique for the accompanying flute, guitar, and cello, but sprechgesang for the vocal part,[6] and Igor Stravinsky, who composed his setting in October 1966.[7] American avant-garde artist and composer Laurie Anderson's fifth album, Bright Red (1994), features the track "Beautiful Pea Green Boat", which incorporates lyrics from the poem.[8]

"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" was the main topic of The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See..., a 1968 children's musical play about Lear's nonsense poems. The play was written by Sheila Ruskin and David Wood.[9] In 1996, Eric Idle published a children's novel, The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat, based on the poem. Idle's narration of the audiobook was nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.[10] In 1998, Naxos Records produced the album Seven Ages: An Anthology of Poetry with Music, which contains a recording of John Cleese reading "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" on track 15.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lucy Larcom, ed. (February 1870). "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat". Our Young Folks. VI (II): 111–112. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Cat Lovers Through History: Edward Lear". Cheshire & Wain. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  3. ^ Lear, Edward. "The Children of the Owl and the Pussy-cat". nonsenselit.org. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. ^ Beatrix, Potter (15 November 2017). "The Tale of Little Pig Robinson". Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Details of the 45 rpm record of Elton Hayes' recordings of Edward Lear songs". 45cat.com/. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  6. ^ Stevens, Denis (1970). A History of Song. Vol. The Norton Library 536. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 179. ISBN 0393005364.
  7. ^ Clements, Andrew (26 July 2007). "Stravinsky: Works of Igor Stravinsky, Columbia SO/ Stravinsky/ Craft". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  8. ^ Buja, Maureen (6 June 2018). "How Composers Set "The Owl and the Pussycat"". Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  9. ^ "The Owl and the Pussycat Went to See..." davidwood.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  10. ^ "CHICAGO ARTISTS ARE WELL-REPRESENTED IN GRAMMY NOMINATIONS". Chicago Tribune. 7 January 1998. Archived from the original on 2 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  11. ^ "SEVEN AGES - An Anthology of Poetry with Music - NA218912". www.naxos.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
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