Before quitting the first "Nonsense-Book," we would point out that it
contains one or two forms that are interesting; for instance, "scroobious,"
which we take to be a Portmanteau word, and "spickle-speckled," a favorite
form of reduplication with Mr. Lear, and of which the best specimen occurs
in his last book, "He tinkledy-binkledy-winkled the bell." The second book,
published in 1871, shows Mr. Lear in the maturity of sweet desipience, and
will perhaps remain the favorite volume of the four to grown-up readers.
The nonsense-songs are all good, and "The Story of the Four little Children
who went Round the World" is the most exquisite piece of imaginative
absurdity that the present writer is acquainted with. But before coming to
that, let us quote a few lines from "The Jumblies," who, as all the world
knows, went to sea in a sieve:--
"They sailed to the Western Sea, they did,
To a land all covered with trees.
And they bought an Owl, and a useful Cart,
And a pound of Rice, and a Cranberry Tart,
And a hive of silvery Bees.
And they bought a Pig, and some green Jack-Daws,
And a lovely Monkey with lollipop paws,
And forty bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree,
And no end of Stilton Cheese.
_Far and few, far and few,
Are the lands where the Jumblies live.
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