A little nonsense now and then,

is relished by the wisest men."

--Anonymous (Roald Dahl, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory)

On this extended web edition of The Poets Weave, Christopher Citro reads nonsense poems by Edward Lear.

Born in 1888, the English poet, author, artist and illustrator suffered from ill health his entire life, including epilepsy, asthma, and depression, which he referred to as "The Morbids." A world traveler and friend of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lear published his first volume of nonsense poetry in 1846, under the pseudonym Derry Down Derry, a book which helped popularize the limerick form. Lear went on to publish many volumes of nonsense verses, stories, alphabets, cookery, botanies and songs.