Edward Lear, born May 12, 1812, started his career not as a poet but as a scientific illustrator. At just nineteen, he was hired to draw parrots at the London Zoo. His bird paintings were so detailed that scientists used them as references for years. But Lear found scientific work lonely. He began writing silly poems to entertain the children of his wealthy friends. His limericks followed a strict pattern: five lines with an AABBA rhyme scheme. The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other. The third and fourth lines are shorter and rhyme with each other. Lear did not invent the limerick, but he made it famous. His 1846 book, A Book of Nonsense, included limericks paired with his own drawings. The drawings were as important as the words. A poem about an old man with a comically long nose came with a picture that made the nose absurd enough to laugh at. Lear also invented nonsense words like "runcible" and "scroobious." Nobody knows exactly what they mean, and that was the point. The mystery of the words forced readers to use their imaginations rather than their dictionaries.