“The JumbliesIThey went to sea in a Sieve, they did, In a Sieve they went to sea:In spite of all their friends could say,On a winter's morn, on a stormy day, In a Sieve they went to sea!And when the Sieve turned round and round,And every one cried, 'You'll all be drowned!'They called aloud, 'Our Sieve ain't big,But we don't care a button! we don't care a fig! In a Sieve we'll go to sea!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. IIThey sailed away in a Sieve, they did,In a Sieve they sailed so fast, With only a beautiful pea-green veilTied with a riband by way of a sail, To a small tobacco-pipe mast;And every one said, who saw them go,'O won't they be soon upset, you know!For the sky is dark, and the voyage is long,And happen what may, it's extremely wrong In a Sieve to sail so fast!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. IIIThe water it soon came in, it did, The water it soon came in;So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feetIn a pinky paper all folded neat, And they fastened it down with a pin.And they passed the night in a crockery-jar,And each of them said, 'How wise we are!Though the sky be dark, and the voyage be long,Yet we never can think we were rash or wrong, While round in our Sieve we spin!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. IVAnd all night long they sailed away; And when the sun went down,They whistled and warbled a moony songTo the echoing sound of a coppery gong, In the shade of the mountains brown.'O Timballo! How happy we are,When we live in a Sieve and a crockery-jar,And all night long in the moonlight pale,We sail away with a pea-green sail, In the shade of the mountains brown!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. VThey 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; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve. VIAnd in twenty years they all came back, In twenty years or more,And every one said, 'How tall they've grown!For they've been to the Lakes, and the Torrible Zone, And the hills of the Chankly Bore!'And they drank their health, and gave them a feastOf dumplings made of beautiful yeast;And every one said, 'If we only live,We too will go to sea in a Sieve,--- To the hills of the Chankly Bore!' Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue, And they went to sea in a Sieve.”

Edward Lear

Edward Lear - “The JumbliesIThey went to sea in a Sieve...” 1

Similar quotes

“One day, the old wise Socrates walks down the streets, when all of the sudden a man runs up to him "Socrates I have to tell you something about your friend who...""Hold up" Socrates interrupts him "About the story you're about to tell me, did you put it trough the three sieves?""Three sieves?" The man asks "What three sieves?""Let's try it" Socrates says."The first sieve is the one of truth, did you examine what you were about to tell me if it is true?" Socrates asks."Well no, I just overheard it" The man says."Ah, well then you have used the second sieve, the sieve of good?" Socrates asks "Is it something good what you're about to tell me?""Ehm no, on the contrary" the man answers."Hmmm" The wise man says "Let's use the third sieve then, is it necessary to tell me what you're so exited about?""No not necessary" the man says."Well" Socrates says with a smile "If the story you're about to tell me isn't true, good or necessary, just forget it and don't bother me with it.”

Socrates
Read more

“If you read fast and read all, maybe some of the sand will stay in the sieve.”

Ray Bradbury
Read more

“Trouble is a sieve through which we sift our acquaintances. Those too big to pass through are our friends.”

Arlene Francis
Read more

“With favoring winds, o'er sunlit seas,We sailed for the Hesperides,The land where golden apples grow;But that, ah! that was long ago.How far, since then, the ocean streamsHave swept us from that land of dreams,That land of fiction and of truth,The lost Atlantis of our youth!Whither, ah, whither? Are not theseThe tempest-haunted Orcades,Where sea-gulls scream, and breakers roar,And wreck and sea-weed line the shore?Ultima Thule! Utmost Isle!Here in thy harbors for a whileWe lower our sails; a while we restFrom the unending, endless quest.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Read more

“You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged.”

Terry Pratchett
Read more