Nonsense Songs

by Edward Lear

NONSENSE ALPHABETS.

[No. 1] [No. 2] [No. 3]

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[a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] [t] [u] [v] [w] [x] [y] [z]
A A was an ant Who seldom stood still, And who made a nice house In the side of a hill. a Nice little ant!	B B was a book With a binding of blue, And pictures and stories For me and for you. b Nice little book!
C C was a cat Who ran after a rat; But his courage did fail When she seized on his tail. c Crafty old cat!	D D was a duck With spots on his back, Who lived in the water, And always said "Quack!" d Dear little duck!
E E was an elephant, Stately and wise: He had tusks and a trunk, And two queer little eyes. e Oh, what funny small eyes!	F F was a fish Who was caught in a net; But he got out again, And is quite alive yet. f Lively young fish!
G G was a goat Who was spotted with brown: When he did not lie still He walked up and down. g Good little goat!	H H was a hat Which was all on one side; Its crown was too high, And its brim was too wide. h Oh, what a hat!
I I was some ice So white and so nice, But which nobody tasted; And so it was wasted. i All that good ice!	J J was a jackdaw Who hopped up and down In the principal street Of a neighboring town. j All through the town!
K K was a kite Which flew out of sight, Above houses so high, Quite into the sky. k Fly away, kite!	L L was a light Which burned all the night, And lighted the gloom Of a very dark room. l Useful nice light!
M M was a mill Which stood on a hill, And turned round and round With a loud hummy sound. m Useful old mill!	N N was a net Which was thrown in the sea To catch fish for dinner For you and for me. n Nice little net!
O O was an orange So yellow and round: When it fell off the tree, It fell down to the ground. o Down to the ground!	P P was a pig, Who was not very big; But his tail was too curly, And that made him surly. p Cross little pig!
Q Q was a quail With a very short tail; And he fed upon corn In the evening and morn. q Quaint little quail!	R R was a rabbit, Who had a bad habit Of eating the flowers In gardens and bowers. r Naughty fat rabbit!
S S was the sugar-tongs, Nippity-nee, To take up the sugar To put in our tea. s Nippity-nee!	T T was a tortoise, All yellow and black: He walked slowly away, And he never came back. t Torty never came back!
U U was an urn All polished and bright, And full of hot water At noon and at night. u Useful old urn!	V V was a villa Which stood on a hill, By the side of a river, And close to a mill. v Nice little villa!
W W was a whale With a very long tail, Whose movements were frantic Across the Atlantic. w Monstrous old whale!	X X was King Xerxes, Who, more than all Turks, is Renowned for his fashion Of fury and passion. x Angry old Xerxes!
Y Y was a yew, Which flourished and grew By a quiet abode Near the side of a road. y Dark little yew!	Z Z was some zinc, So shiny and bright, Which caused you to wink In the sun's merry light. z Beautiful zinc!

[a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] [t] [u] [v] [w] [x] [y] [z]
A a A was once an apple-pie, Pidy,Widy,Tidy,Pidy,Nice insidy,Apple-pie!	B b B was once a little bear, Beary,Wary,Hairy,Beary,Taky cary,Little bear!
C c C was once a little cake, Caky,Baky,Maky,Caky,Taky caky,Little cake!	D d D was once a little doll, Dolly,Molly,Polly,Nolly,Nursy dolly,Little doll!
E e E was once a little eel, Eely,Weely,Peely,Eely,Twirly, tweely,Little eel!	F f F was once a little fish, Fishy,Wishy,Squishy,Fishy,In a dishy,Little fish!
G g G was once a little goose, Goosy,Moosy,Boosey,Goosey,Waddly-woosy,Little goose!	H h H was once a little hen, Henny,Chenny,Tenny,Henny.Eggsy-any,Little hen?
I i I was once a bottle of ink Inky,Dinky,Thinky,Inky,Blacky minky,Bottle of ink!	J j J was once a jar of jam, Jammy,Mammy,Clammy,Jammy,Sweety, swammy,Jar of jam!
K k K was once a little kite, Kity,Whity,Flighty,Kity,Out of sighty,Little kite!	L l L was once a little lark, Larky,Marky,Harky,Larky,In the parky,Little lark!
M m M was once a little mouse, Mousy,Bousy,Sousy,Mousy,In the housy,Little mouse!	N n N was once a little needle, Needly,Tweedly,Threedly,Needly,Wisky, wheedly,Little needle!
O o O was once a little owl, Owly,Prowly,Howly,Owly,Browny fowly,Little owl!	P p P was once a little pump, Pumpy,Slumpy,Flumpy,Pumpy,Dumpy, thumpy,Little pump!
Q q Q was once a little quail, Quaily,Faily,Daily,Quaily,Stumpy-taily,Little quail!	R r R was once a little rose, Rosy,Posy,Nosy,Rosy,Blows-y, grows-y,Little rose!
S s S was once a little shrimp, Shrimpy,Nimpy,Flimpy,Shrimpy.Jumpy, jimpy,Little shrimp!	T t T was once a little thrush, Thrushy,Hushy,Bushy,Thrushy,Flitty, flushy,Little thrush!
U u U was once a little urn, Urny,Burny,Turny,Urny,Bubbly, burny,Little urn!	V v V was once a little vine, Viny,Winy,Twiny,Viny,Twisty-twiny,Little vine!
W w W was once a whale, Whaly,Scaly,Shaly,Whaly,Tumbly-taily,Mighty whale!	X x X was once a great king Xerxes, Xerxy,Perxy,Turxy,Xerxy,Linxy, lurxy,Great King Xerxes!
Y y Y was once a little yew, Yewdy,Fewdy,Crudy,Yewdy,Growdy, grewdy,Little yew!	Z z Z was once a piece of zinc, Tinky,Winky,Blinky,Tinky,Tinkly minky,Piece of zinc!

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[a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] [t] [u] [v] [w] [x] [y] [z]
A A was an ape, Who stole some white tape, And tied up his toes In four beautiful bows. a! Funny old Ape!	B B was a bat, Who slept all the day, And fluttered about When the sun went away. b! Brown little bat!
C C was a camel: You rode on his hump; And if you fell off, You came down such a bump! c! What a high camel!	D D was a dove, Who lived in a wood, With such pretty soft wings, And so gentle and good! d! Dear little Dove!
E E was an eagle, Who sat on the rocks, And looked down on the fields And the-far-away flocks. e! Beautiful eagle!	F F was a fan Made of beautiful stuff; And when it was used, It went puffy-puff-puff! f! Nice little fan.
G G was a gooseberry, Perfectly red; To be made into jam, And eaten with bread. g! Gooseberry red!	H H was a heron, Who stood in a stream: The length of his neck And his legs was extreme. h! Long-legged Heron!
I I was an inkstand, Which stood on a table, With a nice pen to write with When we are able. i! Neat little inkstand!	J J was a jug, So pretty and white, With fresh water in it At morning and night. j! Nice little jug!
K K was a kingfisher: Quickly he flew, So bright and so pretty!— Green, purple, and blue. k! Kingfisher, blue!	L L was a lily, So white and so sweet! To see it and smell it Was quite a nice treat. l! Beautiful Lily!
M M was a man, Who walked round and round; And he wore a long coat That came down to the ground. m! Funny old Man!	N N was a nut So smooth and so brown! And when it was ripe, It fell tumble-dum-down. n! Nice little Nut!
O O was an oyster, Who lived in his shell: If you let him alone, He felt perfectly well. o! Open-mouthed oyster!	P P was a polly, All red, blue, and green,— The most beautiful polly That ever was seen. p! Poor little Polly!
Q Q was a quill Made into a pen; But I do not know where, And I cannot say when. q! Nice little Quill!	R R was a rattlesnake, Rolled up so tight, Those who saw him ran quickly, For fear he should bite. r! Rattlesnake bite!
S S was a screw To screw down a box; And then it was fastened Without any locks. s! Valuable screw!	T T was a thimble, Of silver so bright! When placed on the finger, It fitted so tight! t! Nice little thimble!
U U was an upper-coat, Woolly and warm, To wear over all In the snow or the storm. u! What a nice upper-coat!	V V was a veil With a border upon it, And a ribbon to tie it All round a pink bonnet. v! Pretty green Veil!
W W was a watch, Where, in letters of gold, The hour of the day You might always behold. w! Beautiful watch!	X X was King Xerxes, Who wore on his head A mighty large turban, Green, yellow, and red. x! Look at King Xerxes!
Y Y was a yak, From the land of Thibet: Except his white tail, He was all black as jet. y! Look at the Yak!	Z Z was a zebra, All striped white and black; And if he were tame, You might ride on his back. z! Pretty striped Zebra!