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| Picture of a clover from publicdomainpictures.net |
Limericks are fun poems that often contain figurative devices like puns, hyperbole, idioms, etc. They are meant to be funny and, sometimes, a little bawdy. They are also easy poems to write, especially for beginning poets and children (and those of us who love a fun rhyme).
The origin of Limericks is unknown but seems to be centuries old (some time between the 12th and 14th century) in Ireland. The first published Limericks were in 1765 in
Mother Goose's Melodies, and then became a widespread poetic form adopted by many poets of the 1800s including
Edward Lear,
Lord Alfred Tennyson,
Rudyard Kipling, and
Robert Louis Stevenson.
Form of a Limerick
The Limerick has five lines with one of my favorite rhyming, meter, and syllable patterns:
The rhyming pattern: AABBA
The meter pattern: 33223
The syllable pattern: 88558
A good Limerick is clever and unexpected, not pointless or trite. It is funny and witty with amusing word play. The last line of a Limerick is the most important line. It is usually the funniest/bawdiest part of the poem and contains the main joke of the Limerick.
Limericks by Regina Horne Beard
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The Limerick about Mollie is a true story. She had EIGHT sweet kittens -
seven survived to adulthood. You can find out more about them at
The Cat Farm blog. |
There once was a cat named Mollie
Who never had such a folly
Until she doubled in size
And could not disguise
Eight kittens who came out squally.
There once was a girl so groovy
Who did nothing but watch movies.
Twenty hours went by
Without batting an eye,
Which made her a little loony.
