Explore Edward Lear's nonsense verse with exclusive videos and activities.
Edward Lear – the 20th child of a bankrupt and widowed businessman - was brought up by his elder sister. The young Lear had epilepsy – a condition stigmatised at the time, but he also had precocious artistic gifts. As a young man he was summoned to Knowsley Hall in Merseyside to paint the Earl of Derby’s menagerie. The aboriginal names of some of the exotic Australian creatures at Knowsley may have found their way into the nonsense verse that he began to write for the Earl’s children.
Lear’s verse coincided with an explosion in English nonsense literature – including Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. But Lear also introduced a unique visual style to his books, pioneering a new kind of poetry that married brilliant wordplay with astonishing artwork. Lear’s poems represent a wonderfully childish, creative antidote to the relentless, and dehumanising, march of Victorian “progress” - which may be why his impish voice continues to speak to us today.
Video: Graphic books
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Graphic books
Learn how Edward Lear’s books were printed using the then-innovative technique of lithography.
Watch nowGraphic booksLevel: 1 Introductory
Video: Reading in and out of the nursery
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Reading in and out of the nursery
Learn how Victorian children would have enjoyed an expensive book like Edward Lear's collections of nonsense verse.
Watch nowReading in and out of the nurseryLevel: 1 Introductory
Adventures: Learn some nonsense by heart and find a nonsense alphabet of animals
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Learn some nonsense by heart
Go on an adventure with Edward Lear's Nonsense Songs, as you find a nonsense alphabet of animals and learn some nonsense by heart.
Take part nowLearn some nonsense by heartLevel: 1 Introductory
The Secret Life of Books - Find out more about the other books in the series.
Feeling loving, adventurous or scared? Poetry Prescription will find you the perfect poem to reflect your mood.
Level: 1 Introductory Download the app from the BBC Four series, The Secret Life of Books.
Explore the wonders of the literary world with these five quirky animations.
Level: 1 Introductory In the last century which women writers have truly challenged the existing forms of literature? How did they make their voices heard using brand new techniques and styles? For centuries there have been women writers who have changed the face of literature, but we tend to talk of their lives and work in very certain terms. This series of video-slideshows reveals how writing and reputation are often forged in transition, uncertainty and change. In these 4 films we re-examine the lives, work and influence of: Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys, Katherine Mansfield and Jeanette Winterson.
This material forms part of the Open University course A300 20th century literature: texts and debates. Level: 1 Introductory Why do people visit museums of writers' homes? Discover the secret life of authors in this short video.
Level: 1 IntroductoryExpand your mind
Poetry Prescription
The Secret Life of Books: Download the app
Outside the book
Women Writers: Voices in Transition
The author at home
Start writing fiction is a free course that helps you to get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters.
Level: 1 Introductory Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This free course, What is poetry?, is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of poetry and free verse. You will learn how you can use your own experiences to develop ideas and how to harness your imagination.
Level: 1 Introductory Do you want to get more out of your reading? This free course, Approaching prose fiction, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about narrative events and perspectives, the setting of novels, types of characterisation and genre.
Level: 2 Intermediate Do you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn how to compare and contrast poetry.
Level: 2 IntermediateTry free courses
Start writing fiction: characters and stories
What is poetry?
Approaching prose fiction
Approaching poetry
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Become a student: study English Literature
Take your interest in literature further by studying with the Open University.
Read nowBecome a student: study English LiteratureLevel: 1 Introductory
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BA (Honours) English Literature
If you are interested in reading between the lines, and being challenged by new ideas and ways of seeing, then this course is for you. English literature is a broad, accessible and important subject. On this course you'll study an exciting range of texts from many different periods and settings, including novels, drama and poetry, and discover an exciting variety of approaches for reading and interpreting them. You will develop your skills of analysis and communication, which will enable you to take a fresh look at familiar texts, and to encounter new texts and ideas with confidence.
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From 18th Century chapbooks through to Young Adult novels, explore a vibrant world.
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