Edward Lear
Edward Lear - meaning Summary
Loneliness Transformed by Absurdity
Auden imagines Edward Lear as an awkward, tormented outsider whose grotesque presence and sorrowful imagination render him both mocked and strangely magnetic. Left alone and pursued by intrusive figures, he moves through a surreal reception where objects and animals welcome and absurdly humanize him. The poem sketches a transformation from isolation to a comic, almost mythical belonging, suggesting art’s capacity to turn personal pain into communal identity.
Read Complete AnalysesLeft by his friend to breakfast alone on the white Italian shore, his Terrible Demon arose Over his shoulder; he wept to himself in the night, A dirty landscape-painter who hated his nose. The legions of cruel inquisitive They Were so many and big like dogs: he was upset By Germans and boats; affection was miles away: But guided by tears he successfully reached his Regret. How prodigiuous the welcome was. Flowers took his hat And bore him off to introduce him to the tongs; The demon's false nose made the table laugh; a cat Soon had him waltzing madly, let him squeeze her hand; Words pushed him to the piano to sing comic songs; And children swarmed to him like settlers. He became a land.
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