The Owl and the Pussycat
On July 21, 2020 by Tayo Enahoro-BowyerPoetry is a wonderful way to learn a language, and some poems are better suited than others for that purpose. The Owl and the Pussycat is one of my favourite poems, and it is a particularly fine poem for English language students. It is no accident that the poem appears in so many educational poetry textbooks.
The poem tells an unusual story of an owl and a pussycat who went to sea and travelled far from home. Apparently, they fell in love on the voyage, and in a land where the "Bong-tree" grows, they married and celebrated their marriage in delightfully romantic settings. Thus, the poem is about adventure and romance; not bad for two characters, neither of which is human! ?
Along the way, the author, Edward Lear, introduces us to many uncommon words; 'Piggy-wig', 'tarried', 'Bong tree' and 'runcible spoon'. Several of these words, like 'pussycat' and 'piggy-wig' are words which only children would use normally, but they are still wonderful, and a feather in your cap if you have them in your vocabulary.
I've written an article on the poem which explains all its unusual words, and an audio recording of my recital, which should help English language students learn the poem's pronunciation. Check out the FULL article, which you can read by pressing the button below.
hello there . awesome article you have here this really got my attention i just couldnt ignore it i really think that this will be a very good poem for children to educate them selves i really think that parents should try this out as i am going to try it out after now i really hope others try it out thanks for sharing this with the public
Hi Joy.
Thank you for your kind comments.
Regards,
Tayo
That's a familiar poem to me! I didn't remember the entire storyline, but my mother read a lot of poetry to me as a child and The Own and Pussycat Poem was one of them. Hearing it now as an adult, the meter and the word choices ring a bell in my mind. I could almost say what was coming up before getting to the next line. It isn't predictable, I just remember the flow in the recesses of my mind.
Thanks for bringing this poem back to my memory!
Darrin
Hi Darin.
Props to your mum for reading you the poetry! I think that good poetry can instill in most children a love of the language, because good poetry is elegant, yet understandable. That is a powerful combination for transmitting the best features of a language, which is one reason why I teach English making extensive use of poetry.
Thank you for your comments. 🙂
Regards,
Tayo