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by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888)

The Table and the Chair
Language: English 
Said the Table to the Chair,
"You can hardly be aware,
"How I suffer from the heat,
"And from chilblains on my feet!
"If we took a little walk,
"We might have a little talk!
"Pray let us take the air!"
Said the Table to the Chair.

Said the Chair to the table,
"Now you know we are not able!
"How foolishly you talk,
"When you know we cannot walk!"
Said the Table with a sigh,
"It can do no harm to try,
"I've as many legs as you,
'Why can't we walk on two?"

So they both went slowly down,
And walked about the town
With a cheerful bumpy sound,
As they toddled round and round.
And everybody cried,
As they hastened to the side,
"See! the Table and the Chair
"Have come out to take the air!"

But in going down an alley,
To a castle in a valley,
They completely lost their way,
And wandered all the day,
Till, to see them safely back,
They paid a Ducky-quack,
And a Beetle, and a Mouse,
Who took them to their house.

Then they whispered to each other,
"O delightful little brother!
"What a lovely walk we've taken!
"Let us dine on Beans and Bacon!"
So the Ducky and the leetle
Browny-Mousy and the Beetle
Dined and danced upon their heads
Till they toddled to their beds.

Text Authorship:

  • by Edward Lear (1812 - 1888), "The Table and the Chair" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Table and the Chair", 2010 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Pierre Chépélov (b. 1979), "The Table and the Chair", 2010, first performed 2013 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "The Table and the Chair", 2020 [ voice and piano ], from Five Diddles for Voice and Piano on Poems by Edward Lear, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901 - 1947), "The Table and the Chair" [ voice and piano ], from Three Nonsense Songs, no. 2, confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-12-27
Line count: 40
Word count: 228

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