Learn English with a poem!

Hello. I'm Gill at www.engvid.com, and today we're going to do something a little bit different.

We're going to look at an English poem. And I know you're probably thinking: "Poetry,

that's too difficult. English prose is hard enough, but poetry, ah no." But I'm hoping

to make you realize that it is possible to read an English poem and to understand it.

I've chosen quite an easy, straightforward one. It's called "The Owl and the Pussy-cat",

which is in the first line, here. And it was written by a poet called Edward Lear.

Edward Lear in 1871.

Okay. And Edward Lear was well-known for his humorous writing, so a lot of his

writing is funny, it makes you smile, it makes you laugh. So, hopefully this poem will do

that for you. And so, it tells a story. It's in three sections. This is the first of three

sections, and I'm just going to go through it with you and I will explain any words that

I think maybe need explaining, and I hope you enjoy it. Okay? So, I'll read it.

"The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea". Okay? Now, the Owl, do you know what an "owl" is?

You probably know what a bird is. A bird that flies? Well, an owl is the kind of bird that

is awake at night. It has big, round eyes. If you look it up on Google images, you'll

see lots of pictures of owls. Okay? So we have a bird, here, an owl. And a pussy-cat.

I'm sure you know what a cat is. We use the word "pussy-cat", it's a sort of a comic name

or a... An affectionate name for a cat. People say: "Oh, puss, puss, puss. Here, pussy, pussy, pussy."

So, it's a name for a cat. And children also say: "Oh, pussy-cat, pussy-cat". So,

"pussy" is a cat, but here, it's being called "Pussy-cat" with a hyphen.

So: "The Owl and the Pussy-cat", so we have a bird and a cat. Okay? Which usually, birds

and cats don't usually make friends. Usually, the cat is going to attack the bird and kill

it, probably. But in this poem, because it's Edward Lear and because he's being funny,

he's put a bird and a cat together, and they're not just friends, but they're going on a journey

together. They're on a trip together, so we'll see what happens, shall we?

So: "The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea", on the sea. So even more dangerous.

"Went to sea In a beautiful pea green boat". So, they're in a boat. You know the word "boat"

on the sea. "Boat". It's "pea green". It's not just a green boat, it's the colour of

a green pea, the vegetable that you eat. Little green peas. So it's pea green. We have all

sorts of shades of green. Olive green, sage green, light green, dark green, pea green.

So the boat is the colour of a green pea. No particular reason. It just... It just sort

of fits for the rhythm, because rhythm is important. "In a beautiful pea green boat",

something had to go in there.

Okay, so what did they take with them? "They took some honey". You know honey? The sweet

stuff that the bees go to flowers and then they make honey? Honey, it's like jam, only

it's honey in a pot. Very sweet, you put it on the bread and eat it, or you put it in

the pudding or something. "They took some honey, and plenty of money", well that was

sensible. They're not very sensible, I don't think, going on to the sea in a boat, but

at least they've been sensible enough to take some money with them.

Okay, "plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five pound note." Okay. Well, here, this is a modern

five pound note. It has the Queen on it. Okay? And some of the pictures on the back. Five

pound note. But that's quite small compared with in 1871, a five pound note I think was

a lot bigger than this, and it was a big white sheet of paper. So much easier to wrap other

things in. You wouldn't be able to wrap much in this little thing.

You can't buy much with this either these days.

Anyway, ah: "They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up". Wrapped. So if you

wrap something up, you put it inside, and you fold the pieces over and that's wrapped

up. Okay? "Wrapped up in a five pound note." I just hope that the honey and the money didn't

get all, eww, that would be horrible. I hope they managed to keep it separate. Anyway:

"Wrapped up in a five pound note." Right.

"The Owl looked up to the stars above", so it's nighttime and the stars are in the sky,

little stars in the sky. Looking up at the sky is very romantic at night.

"The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang",

a singing owl. You see? I told you it was funny. This...

He's not just singing; He's playing a musical instrument. "And sang to a small guitar."

I told you it was a bit funny. Well, it's called nonsense poetry, that's the technical

name for this. Nonsense. So "non" is the negative prefix. "Sense" and "sensible". Sense, we

try to be sensible. But "nonsense" is the opposite. This is a nonsense poem. Okay.

"He sang to a small guitar." I wonder what an owl sounds like when it's singing. Usually,

they just make a hooting sound, like: "Hoot, hoot, hoot", like that. So hate to think what

they sound like when they're singing. Anyway, this is what he sang, which you can tell from

the quotation mark. He's singing: "'O lovely Pussy!'" So he likes the cat, which is just

as well because they're off in a boat on the sea all on their own.

"'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love'". So he loves the cat.

These two animals that usually hate each other.

"'O Pussy my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are!'" In music, things

get repeated, and in poetry, so that's why we've got: "'You are, You are, You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!'"

I think it has been set to music, that's the only bit of

the music I can remember. So, there we are, that's the scenario. That's the story so far,

the Owl singing to the Pussy, who he obviously loves. What is going to happen next? Well,

we shall see in a moment.

Okay, so moving on to the second verse. Let's see what happens next.

"Pussy", that's the cat "said to the Owl", the bird,

quotation mark: "'You elegant fowl!'" Now, "fowl", can

you guess? Is another word for a bird. Okay. But, of course, it has to rhyme with "owl"

because this is a poem and a lot of poems have rhyming in them. "Owl", "fowl". Okay?

There's quite a lot more in this verse. "Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!'" "Elegant"

is, oh, very smart, looking really good. Okay? "Elegant fowl".

"'How charmingly sweet you sing!'"

So she loves his singing, she thinks it's sweet and charming. Okay?

Ah, what happens next? She's proposing to him. "'O let us be married!'" Now, this is

1871, and in 1871, it was very unusual for the lady to propose to the man. But this is

a nonsense poem, so that's probably why. And she's a cat, he's an owl. Anything goes, really.

So: "'Let us be married! too long we have'", what's that? "Tarried". What's "tarried"?

What do you think? It means waited. We've delayed, held back. So, waited. And again,

"tarried", "married", he had to use, "tarried", really, didn't he to rhyme with "married"?

Otherwise, it wouldn't sound as good. So, they've been thinking of marriage for quite

some time, apparently, but they've held back for some reason. Perhaps because they're different

species, you know.

Anyway, let's carry on. "'But what shall we do for a ring?'" A ring. Okay, first thing

you think of when you're getting married: "Ah, must have a ring." Yeah? Well, some people

might think of that first; not everybody. Better not go into more detail on that. Okay.

"They sailed away, for a year and a day", "away", "a day", had to happen, didn't it?

A year and a day often happens in stories, fairy tales.

"To the land where the Bong-tree grows."

I don't know if there is such a thing as Bong-tree, it just sounds exotic and funny.

So: "And there in a wood", where the trees are growing, in a wood, "a Piggy-wig stood".

A "Piggy-wig" is just a pig, but again, it's a name that children give to pigs. "Piggy-wig",

because Edward Lear, a lot of his poems, children enjoyed them. But adults enjoyed them as well.

So: "a Piggy-wig stood", a pig in the wood. Ooh, "wood" and "stood". "With a ring at the

end of his nose." You know, pigs have rings in the end of their nose often? Maybe to tie

them up to something, which isn't very nice, really. But anyway, he has a ring at the end

of his nose. "His nose, His nose, With a ring at the end of his nose." Same repetition as

before. Okay, so perhaps we could all guess what's going to happen next, but let's move

on to the third and final verse, and we'll... We shall see.

Okay, third and final verse. So, another quotation mark, so someone is speaking, either the Owl

or the Pussy-cat; we're not sure. "'Dear pig,'" they're speaking to the pig,

"are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?'"

Now, the word order is a bit... But:

"'Dear pig, are you willing to sell Your ring for one shilling?'" They are offering a shilling.

Now, if you don't know what a shilling is, obviously "willing" and "shilling", it had

to happen because they rhyme. A "shilling" was an old coin which we don't have anymore.

This is not a shilling, but it's similar. It was a small, silvery coloured coin. This

has flattened edges, but it's totally round. Maybe slightly bigger than this. This is a

modern 20 pence piece from the U.K. But a shilling was worth a 20th of a pound, believe

it or not, before the decimal currency came in. But we won't get into that. That will

be another lesson, I promise. Lesson on the old currency.

Okay, so they're offering a shilling to the pig for his ring. Okay? "Willing" meaning

"I will", "I am happy to do this". So: "Said the pig, Piggy, 'I will.'" So yes, he's agreeing

to sell his ring in exchange for a shilling coin. "So they took it away", they took the

ring away, "and were married next day". That was quick. Oh, of course, if you want to get

married, you go to a turkey. Yeah? Do you know what a turkey is? Another bird. There

are lots of birds, here. That's another bird. Now, in the U.K., we eat turkeys at Christmas.

It's our traditional bird that we eat. I think in America they eat the turkey for Thanksgiving

in November, so it's a sort of traditional bird. Not good news for turkeys, but anyway,

this turkey apparently has the power to marry people.

So: "The Turkey who lives on the hill." Okay? So that was convenient again.

So, they get married by the turkey, and then of course, they have to have their reception, their meal

to celebrate. So, what do they eat? "They dined" meaning they had their dinner,

"on mince", which is sort of meat in little pieces.

Little pieces of beef, usually. Little pieces

of beef that have been cut up into small pieces. "Mince, and slices of quince". We're rhyming

again. A "quince" is a kind of fruit that grows on trees. And a "slice", you cut it,

cut it into slices. Cutting into slices. So "mince" and "quince", why not? It sounds good.

Main course, pudding, dessert. Yup, sounds good.

"Which they ate", past tense of "to eat", "they ate with a", what kind of spoon?

"A runcible spoon". Runcible. Well, they're using a spoon for their food. At least they're not

using their hands. They're using a spoon. It's a runcible spoon. Now, I had to look

this up to find out what a "runcible spoon" is, but if you think of a spoon that's like

this, but it has pieces cut into it like a fork. So it's a combination of a spoon and

a fork with pointed pieces, and one edge of it is sharp so you can cut with it. Okay?

That's a runcible spoon. If you look it up, "runcible spoon" on Google images, you'll

see lots of pictures of these things. Okay.

"And hand in hand", do owls and cats have hands? Never mind.

It should be "wing and paw", shouldn't it? Owls have wings and cats have paws. But anyway:

"Hand in hand", ah, this is why it has to be "hand",

because they're on the sand. It's the rhyming again.

"Hand in hand, on the edge of the sand", so they must be by the sea.

The sand is by the sea,

so they're right near the sea on the edge of the sand.

"They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon."

And that's the end of the story.

So, I think we can devise a quiz on this poem,

so if you'd like to go to the website, www.engvid.com,

and have a look at the quiz, see if you've understood the poem,

and we'll see you again soon, I hope.

Thanks for listening. Bye.