Limericks
By Brenda B. Covert /

1If it's humor that you crave, you will probably find it in a limerick! Edward Lear popularized limericks in the 1800's when he published his "Book of Nonsense," which was filled with silly limericks he had written for the children of a friend. We know this form of poetry dates back to the 1700's at least, because the nursery rhyme, "Hickory, Dickory, Dock," was first printed in 1744; it follows the rhyming pattern of limericks. There is a city in Ireland named Limerick. Perhaps this form of poetry was born there, or maybe the city's name was used in the first poem.
2A limerick is a five-line poem made up of one couplet and one triplet. A couplet is a two-line rhymed poem. A triplet is a three-line rhymed poem. (I know, you thought a triplet was one of three children born to the same mother at the same time. That's true too.) The poem begins with the first two lines of the triplet, followed by the couplet, and finished with the final line of the triplet. The rhyme pattern looks like this:

a
a
b
b
a


4The last line of a well-written limerick contains the punch line, or joke, of the poem. In spite of that, many of Lear's limericks simply repeated the rhyme from the first line. He was known to sometimes create a nonsense word to fit the rhyme. This is known as "pulling a Lear!"
5As an example, read the following limerick by Edward Lear, the stressed and unstressed syllables are listed under each line to help you learn the rhythm:

There once was a lady from Koo,
Who woke up all covered in adhesive. / ______
Cried she, "What a scare! / ______
I've been sticky all night!
I thought 'twas a dream, but it's real!" / ______

7Was that too easy for you? Let's kick it up a notch! Your next task is to fill in all the end-rhymes of a limerick. Remember that the rhyme pattern is a, a, b, b, a.

1. There was a young fellow named ______(a 1 or 2-syllable name)

2. Who liked to go fishing with ______(noun that rhymes with your chosen name)

3. He borrowed a ______(a 1 or 2-syllable noun)

4. To the creek he did ______(verb that rhymes with line 3)

5. And he reeled in a fish big and ______(adjective that rhymes with lines 1 & 2)

Limerickscan be easily recognized by a very specific rhyming scheme and the use of 5 lines only. Limericks are meant to be humorous, ironic, witty and sometimes nonsensical. (plain silly)

*Task - Complete TWO of the following limericks that I have started for you. Remember that a limerick is meant to be funny. Pay special attention to the rhyming scheme; aabba. Also, lines 3 and 4 should be a little shorter than lines 1, 2 and 5.

  1. There was once an athlete named Sam,

______

2. A singer stepped up to the stand,

______

  1. Have you meet that nice girl named Claire?

______

  1. Now, create a limerick of your own.

______