THE POBBLE WHO HAS NO TOES
by: Edward Lear (1812-1888)
- HE Pobble
who has no toes
- Had once as many as we;
- When they said, "Some day you may lose them all,"
- He replied, "Fish fiddle de-dee!"
- And his Aunt Jobiska made him drink
- Lavender water tinged with pink;
- For she said, "The World in general knows
- There's nothing so good for a Pobble's toes!"
-
- The Pobble who has no toes
- Swam across the Bristol Channel;
- But before he set out he wrapped his nose
- In a piece of scarlet flannel.
- For his Aunt Jobiska said, "No harm
- Can come to his toes if his nose is warm;
- And it's perfectly known that a Pobble's toes
- Are safe--provided he minds his nose."
-
- The Pobble swam fast and well,
- And when boats or ships came near him,
- He tinkledy-blinkledy-winkled a bell
- So that all the world could hear him.
- And all the Sailors and Admirals cried,
- When they saw him nearing the farther side,
- "He has gone to fish for his Aunt Jobiska's
- Runcible Cat with crimson whiskers!"
-
- But before he touched the shore--
- The shore of the Bristol Channel,
- A sea-green Porpoise carried away
- His wrapper of scarlet flannel.
- And when he came to observe his feet,
- Formerly garnished with toes so neat,
- His face at once became forlorn
- On perceiving that all his toes were gone!
-
- And nobody ever knew,
- From that dark day to the present,
- Whoso had taken the Pobble's toes,
- In a manner so far from pleasant.
- Whether the shrimps or crawfish gray,
- Or crafty mermaids stole them away,
- Nobody knew; and nobody knows
- How the Pobble was robbed of his twice five toes!
-
- The Pobble who has no toes
- Was placed in a friendly Bark,
- And they rowed him back and carried him up
- To his Aunt Jobiska's Park.
- And she made him a feast at his earnest wish,
- Of eggs and buttercups fried with fish;
- And she said, "It's a fact the whole world knows,
- That Pobbles are happier without their toes."
"The Pobble Who Has No Toes"
is reprinted from A Nonsense Anthology. Ed. Carolyn Wells.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1915. |
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