Analysis of Mr and Mrs Discobbolos

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



First Part
Mr and Mrs Discobbolos
Climbed to the top of a wall,
And they sat to watch the sunset sky
And to hear the Nupiter Piffkin cry
And the Biscuit Buffalo call.
They took up a roll and some Chamomile tea,
And both were as happy as happy could be -
Till Mrs Discobbolos said, -
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
It has just come into my head -
Suppose we should happen to fall!!!!!
Darling Mr Discobbolos?

'Suppose we should fall down flumpetty
Just like two pieces of stone!
On to the thorns, - or into the moat!
What would become of your new green coat?
And might you not break a bone?
It never occurred to me before -
That perhaps we shall never go down any more!'
And Mrs Discobbolos said -
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
What put it into your head
To climb up this wall? - my own
Darling Mr Discobbolos?'

Mr Discobbolos answered, -
'At first it gave me pain, -
And I felt my ears turn perfectly pink
When your exclamation made me think
We might never get down again!
But now I believe it is wiser far
To remain for ever just where we are.' -
And Mr Discobbolos said,
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
It has just come into my head -
'- We shall never go down again -
Dearest Mrs Discobbolos.!'

So Mr and Mrs Discobbolos
Stood up, and began to sing,
'Far away from hurry and strife
Here we will pass the rest of life,
Ding a dong, ding dong, ding!
We want no knives nor forks nor chairs,
No tables nor carpets nor household cares,
From worry of life we've fled -
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
There is no more trouble ahead
Sorrow or any such thing -
For Mr and Mrs Discobbolos!'

Mr and Mrs Discobbolos
Lived on the top of the wall
For twenty years, a month and a day,
Till their hair had grown all pearly gray,
And their teeth began to fall.
They never were ill, or at all dejected,
By all admired, and by some respected,
Till Mrs Discobbolos said,
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
It has just come into my head,
We have no more room at all -
Darling Mr Discobbolos!

Look at our six fine boys!
And our six sweet girls so fair!
Upon this wall they have all been born,
And not one of the twelve has happened to fall
Through my maternal care!
Surely they should not pass their lives
Without any chance of husbands or wives!'
And Mrs Discobbolos said,
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
Did it never come into your head
That our lives must be lived elsewhere,
Dearest Mr Discobbolos?

'They have never been at a ball,
Nor have even seen a bazaar!
Nor have heard folks say in a tone all hearty,
'What loves of girls (at a garden party)
Those Misses Discobbolos are!'
Morning and night it drives me wild
To think of the fate of each darling child!'
But Mr Discobbolos said,
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
What has come to your fiddledum head!
What a runcible goose you are!
Octopod Mrs Discobbolos!'

Suddenly Mr Discobbolos
Slid from the top of the wall;
And beneath it he dug a dreadful trench,
And filled it with dynamite, gunpowder gench,
And aloud he began to call -
'Let the wild bee sing,
And the blue bird hum!
For the end of your lives has certainly come!'
And Mrs Discobbolos said,
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
We shall presently all be dead,
On this ancient runcible wall,
Terrible Mr Discobbolos!'

Pensively, Mr Discobbolos
Sat with his back to the wall;
He lighted a match, and fired the train,
And the mortified mountain echoed again
To the sound of an awful fall!
And all the Discobbolos family flew
In thousands of bits to the sky so blue,
And no one was left to have said,
'Oh! W! X! Y! Z!
Has it come into anyone's head
That the end has happened to all
Of the whole of the Clan Discobbolos?'


Scheme aBcddceeFBFcB aghhgiiFBfgB xjkklmmfBFlb bnoonbbfBfnb BcppcqqFBFcB brxcrbbFBfrb cmeemssfBfmb bcttcnuuFBfcb bcjlcvvfBfcb
Poetic Form Etheree  (22%)
Metre 11 100101 1101101 01111011 0110111 0010101 111010111 01011011011 11011 1100111 11110111 01111011 10101 0111111 1111011 110110101 110111111 0111101 110011101 101111011101 01011 1100111 1110111 1111111 10101 10110 111111 0111111001 11010111 11101101 1110111101 1011101111 01011 1100111 11110111 11101101 10101 1100101 1100111 10111001 11110111 101111 11111111 110110111 1101111 1100111 11111001 1011011 1100101 100101 1101101 110101001 111111101 0110111 11001111010 11010011010 11011 1100111 11110111 1111111 10101 1110111 01011111 011111111 01110111011 110101 10111111 0110111011 01011 1100111 111010111 11011111 10101 11101101 11101001 11111001110 1111101010 11011 10011111 1110111101 11011 1100111 1111111 101111 1101 100101 1101101 0011110101 011110101 00110111 10111 00111 10111111001 01011 1100111 11100111 111011 100101 1101 1111101 1100101001 0010101001 10111101 01011001 0101110111 01111111 1100111 11101101 10111011 1011011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 3,401
Words 704
Sentences 80
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 13, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 13, 12
Lines Amount 110
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 292
Words per stanza (avg) 76
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 20, 2023

3:28 min read
83

Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. more…

All Edward Lear poems | Edward Lear Books

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