Poems That Don’t Make Sense
“A little nonsense now and then,
is relished by the wisest men.”
(Roald Dahl, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory)
Copyright Sandy Fussell 2010-11
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Poet of the day
EDWARD LEAR
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MR LEAR THE POET
Born 12 May 1812 (died 1888)
 Artist, illustrator, author and poet
 Most famous for his literary nonsense
poems including limericks
 Had 20 brothers and sisters
 He was not very well and suffered
epilepsy, bronchitis and asthma.
 In later life he became partially blind.

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Alphabet Poem
by Edward Lear
A
A was once an apple pie,
Pidy
Widy
Tidy
Pidy
Nice insidy
Apple Pie!
B
B was once a little bear,
Beary!
Wary!
Hairy!
Beary!
Taky cary!
Little Bear!
C
C was once a little cake,
Caky
Baky
Maky
Caky
Taky Caky,
Little Cake!
D
D was once a little doll,
Dolly
Molly
Polly
Nolly
Nursy Dolly
Little Doll!
E
E was once a little eel,
Eely,
Weely
Peely
Eely
Twirly, Tweedy
Little Eel!
F
F was once a little fish,
Fishy
Wishy
Squishy
Fishy
In a Dishy
Little Fish!
G
G was once a little goose,
Goosy
Moosy
Boosy
Goosey
Waddly-woosy
Little Goose!
H
H was once a little hen,
Henny
Chenny
Tenny
Henny
Eggsy-any
Little Hen?
I
I was once a bottle of ink,
Inky
Dinky
Thinky
Inky
Black Minky
Bottle of Ink!
J
J was once a jar of jam,
Jammy
Mammy
Clammy
Jammy
Sweety-Swammy
Jar of Jam!
K
K was once a little kite,
Kity
Whity
Flighty
Kity
Out of sightyLittle Kite!
L
L was once a little lark,
Larky!
Marky!
Harky!
Larky!
In the Parky,
Little Lark!
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M
M was once a little mouse,
Mousey
Bousey
Sousy
Mousy
In the Housy
Little Mouse!
N
N was once a little needle,
Needly
Tweedly
Threedly
Needly
Wisky-wheedly
Little Needle!
O
O was once a little owl,
Owly
Prowly
Howly
Owly
Browny fowly
Little Owl!
P
P was once a little pump,
Pumpy
Slumpy
Flumpy
Pumpy
Dumpy, Thumpy
Little Pump!
Q
Q was once a little quail,
Quaily
Faily
Daily
Quaily
Stumpy-taily
Little Quail!
R
R was once a little rose,
Rosy
Posy
Nosy
Rosy
Bows-y - grows-y
Little Rose!
S
S was once a little shrimp,
Shrimpy
Nimpy
Flimpy
Shrimpy
Jumpy-jimpy
Little Shrimp!
T
T was once a little thrush,
Thrushy!
Hushy!
Bushy!
Thrushy!
Flitty-Flushy
Little Thrush!
U
U was once a little urn,
Urny
Burny
Turny
Urny
Bubbly-burny
Little Urn!
V
V was once a little vine,
Viny
Winy
Twiny
Viny
Twisty-twiny
Little Vine!
W
W was once a whale,
Whaly
Scaly
Shaly
Whaly
Tumbly-taily
Mighty Whale!
X
X was once a great king Xerxes,
Xerxy
Perxy
Turxy
Xerxy
Linxy Lurxy
Great King Xerxes!
Y
Y was once a little yew,
Yewdy
Fewdy
Crudy
Yewdy
Growdy, grewdy,
Little Yew!
Z
Z was once a piece of zinc,
Tinky
Winky
Blinky
Tinky
Tinkly Minky
Piece of Zinc!
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Nonsense Poems
 Turns what we think of as everyday life and language upside down to
create new and strange meanings
 Fanciful phrases and meaningless made-up words
 Humorous
The elephant is a bonnie bird.
It flits from bough to bough.
The Faulty Bagnose
It makes its nest in a rhubarb tree
By John Lennon (The Beatles)
And whistles like a cow.
The Faulty Bagnose 4 years ago
Softly, softly, treads the Mungle
Hey diddle, diddle,
Thinner thorn behaviour street.
The cat and the fiddle.
Whorg canteel whorth bee asbin?
The cow jumped over the moon.
Cam we so all complete,
The little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
With all our faulty bagnose?
There was an old man of West Dumpet,
Who possessed a large nose like a trumpet;
When he blew it aloud, it astonished the crowd,
And was heard through the whole of West Dumpet.
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The Quangle Wangle’s Hat
On the top of the Crumpetty Tree
The Quangle Wangle sat,
But his face you could not see,
On account of his Beaver Hat.
For his hat was a hundred and two feet wide,
With ribbons and bibbons on every side
And bells, and buttons, and loops, and lace,
So that nobody ever could see the face
Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.
The Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty Tree,
Jam; and jelly; and bread;
Are the best food for me!
But the longer I live on this Crumpetty Tree
The plainer than ever it seems to me
That very few people come this way
And that life on the whole is far from gay!'
Said the Quangle Wangle Quee.
But there came to the Crumpetty Tree,
Mr. and Mrs. Canary;
And they said, Did you ever see
Any spot so charmingly airy?
May we build a nest on your lovely Hat?
Mr. Quangle Wangle, grant us that!
O please let us come and build a nest
Of whatever material suits you best,
Mr. Quangle Wangle Quee!'
And besides, to the Crumetty Tree
Came the Stork, the Duck, and the Owl;
The Snail, and the Bumble-Bee,
The Frog, and the Fimble Fowl;
The Fimble Fowl, with a Corkscrew leg;
And all of them said, We humbly beg,
We may build our homes on your lovely Hat,
Mr. Quangle Wangle, grant us that!
Mr. Quangle Wangle Quee!
And the Golden Grouse came there,
And the Pobble who has no toes,
And the small Olympian bear,
And the Dong with a luminous nose.
And the Blue Babboon, who played the flute,
And the Orient Calf from the Land of Tute,
And the Attery Squash, and the Bisky Bat,
All came and built on the lovely Hat
Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.
And the Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty Tree,
When all these creatures move
What a wonderful noise there'll be!'
And at night by the light of the Mulberry moon
They danced to the flute of the Blue Babboon,
On the broad green leaves of the Crumpetty Tree,
And all were as happy as happy could be,
With the Quangle Wangle Quee.
- Edward Lear
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Jabberwocky
By Lewis Carroll
(From Through the Looking Glass
-Alice in Wonderland)
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!'
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought.
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through, and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh, frabjous day! Callooh! callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
Spot the made up words. Do they sound
like nouns, verbs or adjectives?
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.
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The News by Michael Rosen
INSERT THE
NEWS POEM HERE
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Group Activity
Writing a NONSENSE POEM
Here is the news
Someone is at the classroom door
Someone is at the classroom door
That’s the news.
Is it a girl called Sandy
Wearing a dress made of sticky candy?
Is it a teacher called Mr Brown
Eating a hamburger upside-down?
Is it ___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Is it ___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
That was the news.
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On The Ning Nang Nong
INSERT On
The
Ning Nang Nong
POEM HERE
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Individual Activity
WHIP WHack WHOO
On the Whip Whack Whoo
Where the Cows go __________!
(rhymes with Whoo)
and the ___________________ all say WHEE!
(animal name)
There's a Whoo Whack Whip
Where the trees go ________!
(rhymes with Whip)
And the tea pots __________________ chee. (alliteration ‘ch’ words)
On the Whoo Whip Whack
All the mice go __________
(rhymes with Whack)
And you just can't catch 'em where they be!
So its Whip Whack Whoo
Cows go _____________!
Whoo Whack Whip
Trees go _______
Whoo Whip Whack
The mice go ________
What a noisy thing to do
is the Whip Whack Whip Whack Whoo!!
Spike Milligan & 4B
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Copyright Hunt Emerson at http://largecow.com/
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Copyright Hunt Emerson at http://largecow.com/
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Copyright
© Sandy Fussell 2011
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