The unusual personality of Edward Lear, the quirky writer of The Owl and the Pussycat and other ‘nonsense’ limericks, is being celebrated this year as 12th May marked his 200th birthday.
 |
| Edward Lear, self portrait by the artist |
Born in Holloway in 1812, Lear suffered asthma, bronchitis,
depression and epilepsy which many think gives a melancholy tinge to his work.
Yet he created many fantasy worlds, fantastic creatures such as
the ‘Quangle Wangle’ and introduced fun new words like ‘runcible spoon’ into
the English language.
Michael
Rosen, children’s author and broadcaster for BBC Radio 4's 'Word of Mouth' will
be performing at the Nonsense Poetry Slam at Platform in Islington on 29th
May to celebrate the bicentenary.
He
says that there is an incredibly diverse poetry scene in north London from commemorations
of past poets like Keats House, presenting new work (traditional or not) and at
poetry slams performed with music or dance.
 |
| Michael Rosen |
Rosen
who sometimes uses Yiddish words in his poetry which English people are
unfamiliar with, says: “The funny thing about 'runcible' is that it had no
meaning. Lear used it in very different ways. I think he liked the sound of
it.”
The great thing about creating new words, or
neologisms is that once they’re in the English language people want to know
what they mean. Lear’s ‘Runcible spoon’
caused years of intrigue and is now generally accepted to be the term for a
three-pronged fork which is spoon-shaped.
Dean Atta who performs all over the country at part of a Poetry
collective called Rubix from Camden, will use slang and other influences such
as Jamaican patois in his poetry.
He says: “Some words are
not in the English dictionary but are in people’s spoken vocabulary. I’m happy
to use it if my audience knows what I mean.”
 |
| Dean Atta, spoken word artist, described by the Guardian at the Iphone Poet after his poem about Stephen Lawrence went viral |
Atta recently had a surge
of interest in his work when his spoken word poem in memory of Stephen Lawrence
went viral online.
When I spoke to him about Edward Lear he said he’s never written a
limerick himself.
“It makes me think I should teach limericks at workshops, they’re
quite cool. They are quite accessible in that they are easy to recite.”
Rosen
adds: “I think limericks are a popular art form. People love the neatness and
punch of them. They particularly like them if they're about people or places
they know.”
Atta is brought into English lessons to teach poetry to help
prepare students for their GCSEs and A-levels and also to help those who are
learning English as a second language.
Lisandro Tavares is a young spoken word artist who performs under
the name Poetika around London
He believes poetry should be taught as a vocation in schools and
that it has the power to create a link between teachers and pupils.
 |
| Poetika Uk check out http://poetika.co.uk/ |
“A lot of people are webtroverts, meaning they’re disconnected in
life and can only connect and express themselves through words online.” He
says.
“What you think, to what you write down, to how you say it is all
interlinked. If teachers ask children to write down what they want to be in
life, then when they express it, that’s poetry because it comes from the
heart.”
Expression
of the self was present in all of Lear’s works.
A lot of his limericks focus on eccentric individuals.
Michael Rosen says:
“It seems as if Lear
was in some ways a very unhappy man and often travelled, perhaps to escape from his illnesses and emotions.”
His Book of Nonsense
popularised limericks in 1867 included his most famous piece, The Owl and the
Pussycat and the main theme was about the joy in adventure and travelling which
probably reflects the happiness he was searching for.
It is a testament to Lear
that he still entertains people today and that is why his bicentenary is being
celebrated near his birthplace and worldwide.
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
Who has written such volumes of
stuff!
Some think him ill-tempered and
queer,
But a few think him pleasant enough
Owl and
the Pussycat
They dined on mince,
and slices of quince,
No comments:
Post a Comment