Beware the Lunar Light Trivia Quiz

Answer: To sea, pea-green boat

The poem's heroes decided to sail away together out to sea in a little wooden boat.

Edward Lear is known for his nonsense verse, but his first work was as an artist, drawing birds for the Zoological Society. He was also a musician, and played the piano, accordion, flute and small guitar.

Answer: A five-pound note

The poem doesn't say, but I think the honey was in a jar, and it was just the money that was wrapped up in the five-pound note. Otherwise there would have been an awful, sticky mess. Five pounds back when the poem was written was quite a lot of money, and a five-pound note in the poet's day was quite large. It would be interesting to know how much money he thought was plenty.

Answer: Small guitar

The Owl apparently sang very sweetly, and the Pussy-cat was very impressed. She called him an elegant fowl, and told him 'How charmingly sweet you sing!'

The guitar had been used in Europe for a long while, but only became popular in England from about 1750. It was called the 'English guitar' because it was a different shape and smaller than the Spanish guitar. Edward Lear was an accomplished musician, and he played the small 'English' guitar.

Answer: Be married

The Pussy-cat said, 'O let us be married! Too long we have tarried'. Back in Victorian times, when this poem was written, it would have been very unusual for the lady to propose marriage to the man. It would be quite against the rules of proper behaviour.

It was not until towards the end of the Twentieth century that women in general felt free to discuss their future on an equal basis.

Answer: A ring

The Owl and the Pussy-cat loved each other and the Pussy-cat had said they should be married. As soon as she said that, she started to wonder, 'But what shall we do for a ring?' You don't really have to have a ring to get married, but it is a traditional part of a wedding ceremony.

Rings have been part of weddings for centuries. In England it was usual for the bride to be given a ring. It was not until the 1940s that it became more usual for men to also receive a ring as part of the ceremony.

Answer: A year and a day

"They sailed away, for a year and a day"

The year and a day sounds very poetic, but in Scotland a long time ago, a couple who lived together for a year and a day were considered to be properly married.

Another, rather awful, common law said that a person could not be charged with murder if the act that caused the death occurred at least a year and a day before the person died. That law was changed in England in 1996.

Answer: The land where the Bong-Tree grows

The land where the Bong-Tree grows. By using a made-up, imaginary tree, the poet has made the island sound magical and strange - nothing like ordinary, cold England.

Lear's poems were a bit like Lewis Carroll's. They both liked to use nonsense words that no-one had heard of, like the Bong-Tree, or in the case of Lewis Carroll, 'Jabberwocky', which was full of made-up nonsense words. Because they were not real, children could use their imagination and 'see' in their minds how they might look.

Answer: a Piggy-wig

They met a Piggy-wig (a pig). The Owl and the Pussy-cat were surprised and very happy because they were looking for a ring, so they could be married.

"And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose."

Nose rings are sometimes placed on pigs to stop them rooting in the ground with their noses.

Answer: One shilling

The Owl and the Pussy-cat asked the Piggy-wig,

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling,
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will"

So their problem was solved. They could now be married! The pig was probably happy to get rid of the nose-ring as well.

Answer: They danced by the light of the moon

They danced by the light of the moon.

The poem finishes like this:

"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".

Despite the fact that this is a nonsense poem (whoever heard of an owl and a cat sailing away together to be married?), it does contain some lovely imagery. If you can just imagine it for a moment, the last verse is quite beautiful.