The New Vestments by Edward Lear

There lived an old man in the kingdom of Tess,Who invented a purely original dress;And when it was perfectly made and complete,He opened the door, and walked into the street.

By way of a hat, he'd a loaf of Brown Bread,In the middle of which he inserted his head;--His Shirt was made up of no end of dead Mice,The warmth of whose skins was quite fluffy and nice;--His Drawers were of Rabbit-skins, -- but it is not known whose;--His Waistcoat and Trousers were made of Pork Chops;--His Buttons were Jujubes, and Chocolate Drops;--His Coat was all Pancakes with Jam for a border,And a girdle of Biscuits to keep it in order;And he wore over all, as a screen from bad weather,A Cloak of green Cabbage-leaves stitched all together.

He had walked a short way, when he heard a great noise,Of all sorts of Beasticles, Birdlings, and Boys;--And from every long street and dark lane in the townBeasts, Birds, and Boys in a tumult rushed down.Two Cows and a half ate his Cabbage-leaf Cloak;--Four Apes seized his Girdle, which vanished like smoke;--Three Kids ate up half of his Pancaky Coat,--And the tails were devour'd by an ancient He Goat;--An army of Dogs in a twinkling tore up hisPork Waistcoat and Trousers to give to their Puppies;--And while they were growling, and mumbling the Chops,Ten boys prigged the Jujubes and Chocolate Drops.--He tried to run back to his house, but in vain,Four Scores of fat Pigs came again and again;--They rushed out of stables and hovels and doors,--

They tore off his stockings, his shoes, and his drawers;--And now from the housetops with screeching’s descend,Striped, spotted, white, black, and grey Cats without end,They jumped on his shoulders and knocked off his hat,--When Crows, Ducks, and Hens made a mincemeat of that;--They speedily flew at his sleeves in trice,And utterly tore up his Shirt of dead Mice;--They swallowed the last of his Shirt with a squall,--Whereon he ran home with no clothes on at all.

And he said to himself as he bolted the door,'I will not wear a similar dress any more,'Any more, any more, any more, never more!'

Day 1.Look at the picture what do you want to know? Write a list of questions. Remember to think of words the openers we use when asking questions and the punctuation we use too.Red group 4 questions.Yellow and Green 6 questions.Blue and Purple 8 questions.

Day 2.The description of the character is based on a nonsense poem. I would like you to think of a character then think of new images for your character. When you have completed it do an eight-minute timed write using your images.

Day 3. Read the first two verses of the poem. Then answer these questions. Is it a nonsense poem? Do you like the poem? Why do you like it/not like it? Why did the poet use a loaf of brown bread for his hat? Why did he choose cabbage leaves for his coat?Which word has been used to describe the mice? Which word would you choose to describe chocolate drops?

Day 3 continued…In the first verse which words rhyme? Why has the poet used the phrase ‘perfectly made’ in the first verse?What do you think people in the street would think of the vestment? How do you think the character felt as he walked down the street showing everyone the new vestment that he had made?

Day 4.The poet, Edward Lear, is also famous for writing another poem ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’. Thinking about the poem ‘The owl and the Pussycat’, which we read the other week, can you think of any similarities? Is this a nonsense poem too? Edward Lear likes to use nonsense poems to make it more memorable to the reader. Using your own images from day 2 or new ideas can you write your own draft of a nonsense poem? Ask an adult to check your spellings and then re-write your corrected version on day

Day 5.Re -write your final draft of your nonsense poem.

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