Limerick

Limerick.

Limerick has been described as kind of witty, humorous or nonsense poem. It has a strict rhyme scheme which is AABBA; this can be seen as the humorous intent.

Limerick was found in England in the early 18th century however was only popularized in the 19thcentury.

In Limerick’s there is a stanza of five lines, in the first, second and fifth line; they usually rhyme with one another having three feet of three syllables each. The shorter third and fourth lines also rhyme with each other but only having two feet of three syllables.

Limerick was found in the early 18th century but was only popularized in 19th century by a English man named Edward Lear. Limerick was named after the city in Ireland. The famous Limerick that most people know today is

Hickory Dickory Dock
A mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
And down he run
Hickory Dickory Dock.

The first line of Limericks normally establish the subject without giving the story away; for example introducing a person and a place, setting the tone for the poem. It is consist of five lines with the rhyme scheme of “aabba”. All of the “a” would have the same syllables as each other, and so would the “b”. However syllables are not too important in most Limericks, focuses more about the rhyme and rhythm.

Most Limerick Poets liked using the style because of its simplicity, nothing too complicated and not too simple with enough to entertain both children and adults. They also thought that it was easy to write as there are always five lines with very short sentences, making it not only easy to read but to remember as well. Another thing they felt that it was effective even though it is short but the rhythm and rhyming words would help emphasize it on it too, especially for the last line as it is commonly to be the most humorous out of the whole poem.