The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear always makes me smile! Do you remember it? Whether you do or not, here it is.
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat –the poem
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married; too long we have tarried,
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
(This poem is in the public domain.)
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat–the puppet play
I’ve done The Owl and the Pussy-Cat as a puppet play for a number of years. I wrote a melody for it–with the intention of having it be a soothing song that felt like the waves in the ocean. I recorded it yesterday.
(Also, I recorded a puppet play of the three little kittens just a few weeks ago if you want more puppets and poems)
The puppets–and the story of the pink cat
For this story, I use a crocheted owl and a knitted cat (there’s also a needle felted pig and a crocheted bird who plays the role of the turkey).
Way back when I was in first grade, we got mimeographed sheets (yes, it was a long time ago!) to color if we finished our work before the time was up. I always did my work really fast. I colored really fast, too. One day I got a mimeo of a cat and scribbled it full of pink. I took it back to the teacher to get another one. She refused. She told me that cats aren’t pink and I couldn’t get another coloring sheet until I colored my cat the right color. I told her I knew that cats weren’t pink but that I could color my cat pink if I wanted to. I don’t remember what happened next, but that moment really stuck with me. And so, many years later, I knitted a pink cat. So my pink cat represents artistic freedom!
Poetry Friday
And today is Poetry Friday. Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link hosts this week and shares a lovely memo to Mother Earth in honor of National Memo Day–and also shares some lovely picture poems on the theme of Nature Nurtures. Check out her post, see what other poets are writing about and join in, if you want!
In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!
xoxo
What a mean teacher you had. No imagination at all. I love the crocheted cat and I adored reading the Owl and Pussycat poem. Thank you!
She was rather unenlightened! But I think my experiences with her have made me a better teacher and parent. Thanks for your comment.
Susan, what a sweet rendition of The Owl and the Pussycat you shared with us. You’re crocheted puppets added a touch. I am sure children would enjoy seeing your video. Many thanks.
Thanks, Carol, for your kind words!
That crocheted bird/turkey! What fun this is–a delight to watch, and I don’t even love Lear! So comforting.
Thanks–that’s what I was aiming for–the soothing feeling of being rocked by the waves.