Page 116 - Viva Real English 3 : Ebook

16 Three Nonsense Poems

I

There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, ‘I’m afloat!’

When they said, ‘No, you ain’t!’
He was ready to faint,

The unhappy Old Man in a boat.

II

There was an Old Man of Madras,

Who rode on a cream-coloured ass;

But the length of its ears

So promoted his fears,

That it killed that Old Man of Madras.

III

There was an Old Man of Hong Kong,

Who never did anything wrong;

He lay on his back,

With his head in a sack,

That innocuous Old Man of Hong Kong.

Edward Lear

afl oat : floating on water Madras : old name of Chennai

ain’t : humorous way of saying promoted : (here) increased
‘aren’t’, that is, ‘are not’ innocuous : not harmful

faint : become unconscious
106