Runcible Spoons

     I attended a memorial service this morning for my friend's mother.  I never knew the deceased,  but her family did a fine job of celebrating her life.  By the time I left, I thought I knew her very well.  I learned that she was a crafty woman who loved to knit and sew.  She hated bad grammar.  She believed in hard work and thrift.  She was patient and practical.  She had a deep faith in God.  One of the things I found most interesting was her love of the poem, "The Owl and the Pussycat."  She had committed it to memory, and she entertained children by reciting it.  Her own daughters heard it so many times, they might have rolled their eyes a few times during their teenage years.
     Edward Lear published "The Owl and the Pussycat" in 1871.  Like nursery rhymes and "Alice in Wonderland," the poem is an example of nonsense literature.  This type of literature defies language conventions by using made up words like "runcible" and "bong-tree."  Events in the poem also defy logical reasoning.  Animals can't talk, and birds and cats don't get along.
   

I

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea     In a beautiful pea green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money,     Wrapped up in a five pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above,     And sang to a small guitar, 'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,       What a beautiful Pussy you are,           You are,           You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

II

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!     How charmingly sweet you sing! O let us be married! too long we have tarried:     But what shall we do for a ring?' They sailed away, for a year and a day,     To the land where the Bong-tree grows And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood     With a ring at the end of his nose,           His nose,           His nose, With a ring at the end of his nose. III 'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling     Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.' So they took it away, and were married next day     By the Turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince, and slices of quince,     Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, 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.

     So why was this bit of silly verse the favorite of a woman who was more about good sense than nonsense?  It's true that a little whimsy is necessary when you're bringing up children.  In this case though, "The Owl and the Pussycat" might have been her mantra.  My friend had to laugh when she told us that her mother even recited it when coming out of anesthesia.  I'll bet my friend's mother was in favor of inter-species marriage, and taking a 366 day honeymoon before making things official.  I am absolutely certain she would love to attend a wedding officiated by something other than the usual kind of cleric.  I am also certain that she's dancing tonight by the light of the moon.