In his mid-fifties, Edward Lear seriously considered proposing marriage to Augusta Bethell, a much younger family friend, while based partly in London and Cannes in southern France. He ultimately withdrew from the idea, torn between conventional expectations and his own uncertain feelings, and never married. Bethell later remained a lifelong friend and correspondent.", "literary_impact="This unresolved personal episode reflects the ambivalence toward marriage and domestic partnership that runs through Lear's nonsense poems, many of which end in odd, unconventional, or thwarted unions between mismatched characters.