The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” has the quality of a fairytale romance, although unlike those love stories, the greatest obstacle in the poem is not a murderous queen or a wicked dragon, but the lack of a ring. The ring is easily found, and the owl and the pussy-cat wed in a magical, beautiful setting. The poem ends on the image of the two creatures dancing on a moonlit beach. The fairytale aspect of the poem then comes not from the play of archetypes, but from its depiction of wonder and magic. What makes the world of the poem magical is the possibility that anything can happen here.

The suggestion of whimsy and endless possibility begins with the poem’s first image. The lovestruck couple here are a talking pair of an owl and a pussy-cat. They decide to sail the sea in a beautiful “pea-green” (Line 2) boat, and carry a bundle of cash. The poem’s highly visual quality lends itself to whimsy and imagination. Lear cannily chooses two animals that lend themselves to “cute” depiction, making the animal figures non-threatening. The image of the “beautiful boat” (Line 2) is similarly evocative. Another literary choice Lear uses to enhance the poem’s magic is the frequent binding or