Thursday, November 17, 2011

'Gozo my child is the isle of Calypso' (Edward Lear)









Gozo my child is the isle of Calypso
That naughty young woman who made egg flip so
And all day long with a spoon did sip so,
And every morn in the sea did dip so
Whereon Ulysses seeing her strip so
And all of her beautiful ringlets drip so
From her beautiful head to her beautiful hipso
Because her curls she would never clip so,
--  Took to staying away from his ship so,
And she his mariners all did trip so
And fed them with chickens that had the pip so
For fear he should ever give her the slip so
And over the ocean start for a trip so
    Singing – (with peculiar sweetness --) "This is
I who have wheedled the wily Ulysses,
With kurls and cobwebs and kustards and kisses
    Gip so, whip so, crip so, and quip so
    Flip so, bip so, rip so and zip so –
          O naughty Calypso!
Which has made the little hills for to skip so!”







Key 

Upper: Arnold Böcklin, Odysseus By The Sea, 1869
 

Lower: Arnold Böcklin, Odysseus and Calypso, 1883


 

3 comments:

  1. Clever old Edward Lear!

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  2. I'll be reciting this at Stirling Junk Jam in a couple of weeks!

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  3. Excellent. I'd love to be able to hear you. Thanks. Curtis

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