“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Summary

“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Themes

• 

  The Transformative Pain of Heartbreak

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Dong with a Luminous Nose”

• Lines 1-7

  When awful darkness and silence reign
  Over the great Gromboolian plain,
  Through the long, long wintry nights;—
  When the angry breakers roar
  As they beat on the rocky shore;—
  When Storm-clouds brood on the towering heights
  Of the Hills of the Chankly Bore:—

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 8-14

  Then, through the vast and gloomy dark,
  There moves what seems a fiery spark,
  A lonely spark with silvery rays
  Piercing the coal-black night,—
  A Meteor strange and bright:—
  Hither and thither the vision strays,
  A single lurid light.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-25

  Slowly it wanders,—pauses,—creeps,—
  Anon it sparkles,—flashes and leaps;
  And ever as onward it gleaming goes
  A light on the Bong-tree stems it throws.
  And those who watch at that midnight hour
  From Hall or Terrace, or lofty Tower,
  Cry, as the wild light passes along,—
  "The Dong!—the Dong!
  "The wandering Dong through the forest goes!
  "The Dong! the Dong!
  "The Dong with a luminous Nose!"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 26-39

  Long years ago
  The Dong was happy and gay,
  Till he fell in love with a Jumbly Girl
  Who came to those shores one day.
  For the Jumblies came in a sieve, they did,—
  Landing at eve near the Zemmery Fidd
  Where the Oblong Oysters grow,
  And the rocks are smooth and gray.
  And all the woods and the valleys rang
  With the Chorus they daily and nightly sang,—
  "
  Far and few, far and few,
  Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
  Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
  And they went to sea in a sieve.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 40-47

  Happily, happily passed those days!
  While the cheerful Jumblies staid;
  They danced in circlets all night long,
  To the plaintive pipe of the lively Dong,
  In moonlight, shine, or shade.
  For day and night he was always there
  By the side of the Jumbly Girl so fair,
  With her sky-blue hands, and her sea-green hair.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 48-59

  Till the morning came of that hateful day
  When the Jumblies sailed in their sieve away,
  And the Dong was left on the cruel shore
  Gazing—gazing for evermore,—
  Ever keeping his weary eyes on
  That pea-green sail on the far horizon,—
  Singing the Jumbly Chorus still
  As he sate all day on the grassy hill,—
  "
  Far and few, far and few,
  Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
  Their heads are green, and their hands are blue
  And they went to sea in a sieve.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 60-69

  But when the sun was low in the West,
  The Dong arose and said;
  —"What little sense I once possessed
  Has quite gone out of my head!"—
  And since that day he wanders still
  By lake and forest, marsh and hills,
  Singing—"O somewhere, in valley or plain
  "Might I find my Jumbly Girl again!
  "For ever I'll seek by lake and shore
  "Till I find my Jumbly Girl once more!"

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 70-76

  Playing a pipe with silvery squeaks,
  Since then his Jumbly Girl he seeks,
  And because by night he could not see,
  He gathered the bark of the Twangum Tree
  On the flowery plain that grows.
  And he wove him a wondrous Nose,—
  A Nose as strange as a Nose could be!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 77-85

  Of vast proportions and painted red,
  And tied with cords to the back of his head.
  —In a hollow rounded space it ended
  With a luminous Lamp within suspended,
  All fenced about
  With a bandage stout
  To prevent the wind from blowing it out;—
  And with holes all round to send the light,
  In gleaming rays on the dismal night.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 86-93

  And now each night, and all night long,
  Over those plains still roams the Dong;
  And above the wail of the Chimp and Snipe
  You may hear the squeak of his plaintive pipe
  While ever he seeks, but seeks in vain
  To meet with his Jumbly Girl again;
  Lonely and wild—all night he goes,—
  The Dong with a luminous Nose!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 94-103

  And all who watch at the midnight hour,
  From Hall or Terrace, or lofty Tower,
  Cry, as they trace the Meteor bright,
  Moving along through the dreary night,—
  "This is the hour when forth he goes,
  "The Dong with a luminous Nose!
  "Yonder—over the plain he goes;
  "He goes!
  "He goes;
  "The Dong with a luminous Nose!"

  

  

  

  

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“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Symbols

• 

  The Luminous Nose

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“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Awful
• The great Gromboolian plain
• Breakers
• The Hills of the Chankly Bore
• Hither and thither
• Lurid
• Anon
• Bong-tree
• Gay
• Jumblies
• At eve
• Zemmery Fidd
• Staid
• Plaintive
• Sate
• Twangum Tree
• Stout
• Dismal
• Snipe
• Yonder

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Dong with a Luminous Nose”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Speaker

“The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Dong with a Luminous Nose”

More “The Dong with a Luminous Nose” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Lear's life and work via the Edward Lear Society.

  • Lear's Art — Admire some of Lear's artwork. Alongside his famous and excellent cartoons, he was a notable wildlife and landscape painter.

  • Lear's Legacy — Read about a recent biography of Lear that describes his lasting influence.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to an atmospheric (and musical) performance of the poem by the great Ivor Cutler.

  • Lear's Drawings — See Lear's own rendition of the Dong and his luminous nose (and read a short appreciation of the poem by writer Sam Munson).

  • Laughable Lyrics — See images from the 1877 collection in which this poem was first published.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Edward Lear

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