Edward Lear - The Jumblies

Lyrics

They 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 They sailed away in a Sieve, they did In a Sieve they sailed so fast With only a beautiful pea-green veil Tied 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 The water it soon came in, it did The water it soon came in; So to keep them dry, they wrapped their feet In 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 And all night long they sailed away; And when the sun went down They whistled and warbled a moony song To 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 They 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 And 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 feast Of dumplings made of beautiful yeast; And everyone 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