Over the Land and Over the Sea

Selected Nonsense and Travel Writings

Comic invention and an unrestrained sense of the absurd are explored in this collection of one of England's best-loved poets. Adored by generations of nonsense-loving children and treasured by adults conscious of the subtle melancholy that underlies the fun, these writings whisk readers away not only to the fabled lands of the Jumblies and the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo but also to 19th-century Albania, Greece, Calabria, and Corsica, where the poet's encounters with the people and customs are recorded with an acute and ruefully comical imagination. Setting Lear's nonsense verse alongside his six travel books, Swaab paints a complete picture of Lear, capturing his ability to see the uncanny and surreal in all things.