A Book of Nonsense — Reading Companion

The Limerick's Predictable Structure

Every limerick in this collection adheres to a strict pattern. The first line introduces a character by age, gender, and location: “There was an Old Man with a nose,” “There was a Young Person of Smyrna,” “There was an Old Person of Chili.” The second and third lines present a situation or dialogue, often in quotation marks. The fourth line is a short exclamation or action, and the fifth line repeats the character with a descriptive adjective: “That remarkable Man with a nose,” “That incongruous Old Woman of Smyrna,” “That imprudent Old Person of Chili.” This repetition creates a satisfying closure, and the adjectives—often unexpected or invented—are the punchline.

Recurring Character Types and Settings

Lear populates his nonsense world with three main character types: Old Men, Young Ladies, and Old Persons. The Old Men are often defined by a physical peculiarity (a long nose, a beard, a gong) or a compulsive behavior (running up and down in a grandmother's gown, bumping a gong all day). The Young Ladies tend to have unusual features or habits: one has a chin like a pin, another dresses in a sack “spickle-speckled with black.” The Old Persons are frequently from specific places—Chili, Ischia, Vienna, Cape Horn—and their actions are absurdly logical: an Old Person of Cromer stands on one leg to read Homer, then jumps off a cliff. The settings are minimal, often just a tree, a hill, a boat, or a casement, focusing attention on the character's oddity.

Wordplay and Inventive Language

Lear's nonsense relies on playful language and coined words. He uses unexpected rhymes: “gong” with “all the day long,” “Senna” with “Camomile Tea.” Some lines contain invented or rare words: “sarpint” for serpent, “ombliferous,” “umbrageous,” “incipient,” “intrinsic.” These adjectives often sound grand but are applied to trivial or bizarre situations, creating a mock-heroic effect. The dialogue is minimal but pointed: when an Old Man in a tree is bothered by a bee, he says, “Yes, it does! It's a regular brute of a Bee.” The matter-of-fact tone contrasts with the absurdity, heightening the humor.

The Role of the Illustrations

Though the text excerpts do not include the images, the original publication is subtitled “With All the Original Pictures and Verses,” and the limericks are clearly designed to be accompanied by Lear's sketches. The verses describe visual details—a nose, a chin, a bonnet, a beard with nests—that would be depicted in the drawings. The opening limerick mentions “the fun of that Derry down Derry,” implying that the book itself is a visual and verbal entertainment. Readers should imagine the illustrations as integral to the nonsense, amplifying the absurdity of each character's predicament.

Reading A Book of Nonsense sequentially reveals a cumulative effect: the rigid form becomes a frame for endless invention. Each limerick is self-contained, so the book can be opened at any page. Pay attention to the final adjective—it is often the key to the joke. The verses reward reading aloud, as the rhythm and rhyme are precise. The collection is best enjoyed as a playful exploration of language and logic, where the only rule is that the nonsense must be consistent within its own terms.

I have watched readers smile at Edward Lear’s limericks, where a final odd word lands like a quiet wink. That same gentle absurdity, that fondness for creatures who simply are themselves, lives again in The Pirate Frog, and Other Tales — Key Ideas to Explore. They feel like old friends from different shelves, sharing a knowing glance.