THE
PENG UIN
BOOK OF
NONSENSE VERSE
SELECTED AND ILLUSTRATED BY
PENGUIN BOOKS
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
13
THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
19
from The World Turned Upside Down -ANONYMOUS
21
I saw a Peacock -ANONYMOUS
24
Uptown, Downtown - CLYDE WATSON
25
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night -ANONYMOUS
26
I Saw iij Hedles Playen at a Ball - ANONYMOUS
26
I Went to the Pictures Tomorrow - PLA YGROUND RHYME
27
Topsyturvey-world - WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS
28
When I Went Out for a Walk One Day -ANONYMOUS
30
Sensible Questions - MARGARET MAHY
31
CHORTLING AND GALUMPHING
33
Jabberwocky -LEWIS
CARROLL
35
To Marie -ANONYMOUS
37
Typo - RUSSELL HOBAN
39
The Lugubrious Whing-whang - JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
40
Belagcholly Days - ANONYMOUS
42
A RECIPE FOR INDIGESTION
43
Dilly Dilly Piccalilli - CLYDE WATSON
45
Ever Eaten - ROGER MCGOUGH
46
Bleezer's Ice-cream - JACK PRELUTSKY
47
The Remarkable Cake - MARGARET MAHY
49
'I've Eaten Many Strange and Scrumptious Dishes . . .' —
ROALD DAHL
51
Brother and Sister - LEWIS CARROLL
54
You Must Never Bath in an Irish Stew - SPIKE MILLIGAN
56
The Friendly Cinnamon Bun - RUSSELL HOB AN
57
Buttons - WALTER DE LA MARE
58
The Walrus and the Carpenter - LEWIS CARROLL
59
Minnow Minnie - SHEL SILVERSTEIN
66
PORTRAITS
67
FROM LIFE
Fame was a Claim of Uncle Ed's - OGDEN NASH
69
from Melodies -LEWIS CARROLL
70
There was an Old Person of Slough — EDWARD LEAR
71
Incidents in the Life of my Uncle Arley - ED WARD LEAR
71
There was an Old Person in Gray - EDWARD LEAR
76
Moonshine - WALTER DE LA MARE
77
Jerry Hall - ANONYMOUS
78
Some Aunts and Uncles - MER VYN PEAKE
79
Mrs McPhee - CHARLES CAUSLEY
81
There was a. Nisid Nian-ANONYMOUS
83
A FRIEND TO THE CHILDREN
85
The Yak - HILAIRE BELLOC
87
A Sunnit to the Big Ox -ANONYMOUS
88
The Elephant, or The Force of Habit - A. E. HOLISMAN
90
Eletelephony -LAURA RICHARDS
91
from. The Crocodile or, Public Decency -A. E. HOUSMAN
92
The Purist — OGDENNASH
94
Some Verses to Snaix -ANONYMOUS
95
S F - ERNEST LEVERETT
97
The Mad Hatter's Song - LEWIS CARROLL
98
THE DEDICATED
99
TRAVELLER
Anfruca —RUSSELL HOBAN
101
The Owl and the Pussy-cat - EDWARD LEAR
103
The Island of Llince - N. M. BODECKER
106
On the Ning Nang Nong - SPIKE MILLIGAN
107
The Jumblies - EDWARD LEAR
108
How I Brought the Good News from Aix to Ghent or,
Vice Versa - W. C. SELLAR ANDR. J. YEA TMAN
f NIEDEKS.
ISTAATS-U.UNIV..
I BIBUOTIIEK
I CCTTONCEN
114
The Nutcrackers and the Sugar-tongs - ED WARD LEAR
116
The Road to Zoagli -MAXBEERBOHM
120
O'er Seas that Have no Beaches -MERVYN PEAKE
122
THE BONGALOO AND THE SCRUNCH
123
A Quadrupedremian Song - THOMAS HOOD THE YOUNGER
125
The Wendigo — OGDEN NASH
126
The Utter Zoo Alphabet - EDWARD GOREY
128
The Blunderblat - COLIN WEST
131
The Bongaloo - SPIKE MILLIGAN
133
'There is No Knowing What We Shall See!' . . . ROALD DAHL
135
The Underwater Wibbles - JACK PRELUTSKY
138
The Worst -SHEL SILVERSTEIN
140
AN AREA OF UNCERTAINTY
141
A Chronicle-ANONYMOUS
•
143
There's a Rather Odd Couple in Herts - EDWARD GOREY
145
Indirections - JOHN YEOMAN
146
The Mad Gardener's Song -LEWIS
CARROLL
Gazebos - ROGER MCGOUGH
149
152
The Amphisbaena or, The Limits of Human Knowledge A. E. HOUSMAN
153
Wobble-dee-woo - COLIN WEST
156
From Number Nine, Penwiper Mews - EDWARD GOREY
157
The Ahkond of Swat - ED WARD LEAR
158
FLAMINGOES
RULE
OLE/
163
As I Went Over the Water -ANONYMOUS
165
There was an Old Man with a Beard - EDWARD LEAR
166
There was an Old Man of Dumbree - EDWARD LEAR
' 166
Pooem - JOHN UPDIKE
167
The Duck - LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS
168
Goosey, Goosey, Gander -ANONYMOUS
169
Little Birds -LEWIS
170
CARROLL
Ever See — ROGER MCGOUGH
SPEAK
ROUGHLY
TO YOUR LITTLE
\7A
BOY
175
The Duchess's Lullaby -LEWIS CARROLL
177
Franklin Hyde - HILAIRE BELLOC
178
The Happy Family - JOHN CIARDI
180
Politeness - HARRY GRAHAM
183
The Willow-tree - WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
184
Purple William or. The Liar's Doom -A. E. HOUSMAN
188
Inconsiderate Hannah -HARRY GRAHAM
190
DEPARTMENT
OF FACTS AND QUERIES
An Unexpected Fact - EDWARD CANNON
Scientific Proof - J. W. FOLEY
191
193
194
The Flies Crawled up the Window - ELLIS AND FURBER
196
The Lazy Roof - GELETT BURGESS
197
Strange Meeting - JOHN YEOMAN
198
Capacity - JOHN UPDIKE
200
Father William -LEWIS CARROLL
201
The Sea Serpant - WALLACE IRWIN
204
There was an Old Man in a Trunk - OGDEN NASH
207
The White Knight's Ballad - LEWIS CARROLL
208
Planting a Mailbox - JOHN UPDIKE
214
I WISH
I WERE A JELLY
FISH
Triolet - G. K. CHESTERTON
215
217
Poems of Mystery and Imagination (No. 1) ROGERMCGOUGH
The Sword-fish - LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS
The Cod - LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS
218
219
220
Afternoon of a Prawn - KIT WRIGHT
221
It Makes a Change - MER VYN PEAKE
223
STICKY ENDS
225
The Babe - EDWARD GOREY
227
Little Willie's Dead -ANONYMOUS
227
The Lion - OGDENNASH
228
Waste -HARRY GRAHAM
228
Idyll - J. B. MOR TON
229
Sally Simpkin's Lament - THOMAS HOOD
230
On the Accidental Death of an Officer of the Salvation
Army - A. E. Ho USMA N
Kitty - COLIN WEST
DISTRACTING
CREATURES
233
234
235
Said the Monkey to the Donkey -ANONYMOUS
237
A Cat Came Dancing out of a Barn -ANONYMOUS
238
The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her
Dog -ANONYMOUS
Nine Mice - JACK PRELUTSKY
239
243
i
Vladimir's Song from 'Waiting for Godot' SAMUEL BECKETT
244
Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog Revisited JOHN YEOMAN
245
The Story of the Man that Went Out Shooting DR HEINRICH HOFFMAN
248
Fur and Feathers —A. B. 'BANJO' PATERSON
251
The Monkey's Glue - GOLDWIN GOLDSMITH
254
The Monkey's Wedding -ANONYMOUS
255
A GAMUT OF ACHIEVEMENTS
257
Simple Simon -ANONYMOUS
259
Science for the Young - WALLACE IRVIIN
260
Hooray for Captain Spaulding BERT KALMAR AND HARRY RUBY
262
The Adventures of Isabel - OGDEN NASH
265
Knots - JOHN YEOMAN
269
Bones - WALTER DE LA MARE
271
The Reluctant Hero - MARGARET MAHY
272
INDEX
OF POETS
276
INDEX
OF FIRS T LINES
279
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
285