Nonsensical

A nonsense poem beginning with, ‘They went to sea in a sieve, they did…’ as in Edward Lear’s poem, ‘The Jumblies’

They went to sea in a sieve, they did –

A mellifluous trio of three,

The squirrel, the squab and the squirminous squib,

All happy as happy can be

When out of the blue a carbuncular whale

Burst from the brine spouting seawater ale

And, flaunting its flippery-flappery tail,

Said, ‘Please may I join you for tea?’

So they feasted together on krill-crusted crabs

And snapper soup sipped from a spoon,

With slippery-kippery, salty kebabs

And Ling from the Pongo lagoon;

Then spindle-spine weaver and slithersome eel

With prickle-back pickle on slices of seal

And, feeling ebullient after their meal,

They danced all the way to Dunoon.