Literary nonsense from a combination of both sources. Though not the first to write this hybrid kind of nonsense, Edward Lear developed and popularized it in his many limericks (starting with "A Book of Nonsense", 1846) and other famous texts such as "The Owl and the Pussycat", "The Dong with a Luminous Nose," "" and "The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Around the World". Lewis Carroll continued this trend, making literary nonsense a worldwide phenomenon with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) and "Through the Looking-Glass" (1871). Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky", which appears in the latter book, is often considered quintessential
Edward Lear For the first three editions most are typeset as, respectively, two, five, and three lines. The cover of one edition bears an entire limerick typeset in two lines: In Lear's limericks, the first and last lines usually end with the same word rather than rhyming. For the most part they are truly nonsensical and devoid of any punch line or point. They are completely free of the bawdyness with which the verse form is now associated. A typical thematic element is the presence of a callous and critical "they." An example of a typical Lear limerick: Lear's self-description in verse,