There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.
This was drawn in pen and ink with digital colour for Illustration Friday, and is part of an idea I was toying with for a steampunk/clockpunk circus. But here I discovered a flaw – for who would wind up the tiger?
The limerick is by William Cosmo Monkhouse.
Kathleen Jennings 
This is beautiful!!
Thank you!
This is strange and a little creepy, but a really cool illustration. And a really neat idea, too!
Thank you very much! It creeped me out just a little as I was drawing it – more so my housemate who was hanging over my shoulder watching at the time :)
Inspiring! I wrote a limerick even:
There once was a woman so clever
A tiger she built with a lever
But! To pump up the beast,
Might result in a Feast!
And no one would wind it, Not Ever.
Nice. I’m a limerick lover myself.
Hah! I love it.