They went to sea in a sieve, they did, In a sieve they went to sea;In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter"s morn, on a stormy day,
In a sieve they went to sea!
And, when the sieve turned round and round, And every one cried, " You"ll all be drowned !" They called aloud, " Our sieve isn"t big,But we don"t care a button! We don"t care a fig!
In a sieve we"ll go to sea!"
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a sieve.
They sailed away in a sieve, they did, In a sieve they sailed so fast,With only a beautiful pea-green veil Tied with a ribbon, by way of a sail, To a small tobacco-pipe mast;And every one said, that saw them go, "Oh, won"t they be soon upset, you know! For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,And, happen what may, it"s extremely wrong
In a sieve to sail so fast!" Far and few, far and few,Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a sieve.
They sailed to the Western Sea, they did, To a land all covered with trees,And they bought an owl, and a useful cart, And a pound of rice, and a cranberry tart,And a hive of silvery bees.
And they bought a pig, and some green jackdaws, And a lovely monkey with lollipop paws,And forty bottles of ring-bo-ree, And no end of Stilton cheese.
Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a sieve.
And in twenty years they all came back,
In twenty years or more.
And every one said, " How tall they"ve grown!
For they"ve been to the Lakes, and the Terrible Zone,And the hills of the Chankly Bore";
And they drank their health, and gave them a feast Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast;And every one said, " If we only live, We too will go to sea in a sieve-To the hills of the Chankly Bore!" Far and few, far and few,Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a sieve.
- Edward Lear
Author.-Edward Lear (1812-1888), English artist and writer, was born in London. He spent many years painting landscapes in Italy and other Mediterranean countries. He wrote and illustrated travel books, but is best known for his books of nonsense rhymes for children.
General Notes.-Which verse contains the most nonsense? Whichverse do you like best? Can you give any reasons for the popularity of this poem? Are some people in any way like the Jumblies? Do you know any other nonsense rhymes?
Suggestions for Verse-speaking.-First divide each verse into threeparts-the first part contains five lines and the last part makes a chorus. Let half the class say the first part, the other half the second part, and the whole class the chorus part.