L was a light which burned all the night
and lighted the gloom of a very dark room.
L was Lear who wrote without fear
inventing new words strictly for the birds.
L was for London all of a sudden
that in a fit said it’s best to flit.
L was landscapes, large romantic shapes
sympathetic, with parrots alphabetic.
L was laureate, to whit counter-laureate
his In Memoriam a pea-green gloriam.
L was for limerick, simple trick
that in a stroke makes a million jokes.
L was Liguria, curious curiouser
departed alone but by all, well-known.
The image is Edward Lear’s watercolour of the red-sided parrot
(Eclectus Roratus Polychloros)
made circa 1830-32. More history about this painting is here: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/363843
No comments:
Post a Comment