Could anybody tell me who wrote this poem?

[Brianjay]

Dear All,

I have recently read a wondeful poem, but do not know its title or author.

Could anybody help?

It reads as follows;

I went out of my mind, and came to my senses,
By meeting a magpie who mixed up his tenses,
Who muddled distinctions of nouns and of verbs,
And insisted that logic was bad for the birds.
With a poo-wee cluck and a chit chit chit,
The grammar and meaning don't matter a bit.
The stars in their courses have no destination;
The train of events will arrive at no station;
The inmost and ultimate Self of us all
Is dancing on nothing and having a ball.
So with a chat for chit, and tat for tit,
This will be that, and that will be it.

I have been told that it MAY be by Edward Lear, but not with any certainty.

Many thanks in advance.

Brianjay

[genoveva]

I have been told that it MAY be by Edward Lear, but not with any certainty.


Sounds like his style!

[SteveJO]

Alan Watts, the great British/American scholar and popularizer of Buddhist and Hindu thought in the 1950s and 1960s, created this poem.

[SteveJO]

Birdle Burble

(For James Broughton)

I went out of mind and then came to my senses
By meeting a magpie who mixed up his tenses,
Who muddled distinctions of nouns and of verbs,
And insisted that logic is bad for the birds.
With a poo-wee cluck and a chit, chit-chit;
The grammar and meaning don't matter a bit.

The stars in their courses have no destination;
The train of events will arrive at no station;
The inmost and utmost self of us all
Is dancing on nothing and having a ball.
So with chat for chit and with tat for tit,
This will be that, and that will be IT!

Alan Watts Nonsense