Limericks!

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

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.

Components and Elements of Poetry

Poetry contains specific components (line, stanza, meter) as well as important elements (rhythm, rhyme, form, and diction). Each of these components and elements define and organize poetry into something tangible. This post is by no means an exhaustive look at the components and elements of poetry but a simple look at how a poem functions.

Components

The important components of poetry are line, stanza, and meter. A line in a poem is the basic structure of a poem. It is not necessarily a complete sentence and can be arranged in various different ways depending on the poem. For instance, one of my favorite poets is E.E. Cummings. The lines of his poems can start at any position on the page, and he uses this visual impact to enhance his poetry. A line should work as a unit of speech and should begin and end with strong words. The first line should not only introduce your poem, but it should also grab the attention of the reader so avoid too many pronouns and definite articles like a, an, and the. The length of a line may help express feelings or evoke moods. If you want to create a sense of drama in a poem, then use shorter lines. If you want to create intense emotion, then use longer lines. The last line of a poem should be as powerful as the first because you want to leave the reader satisfied, startled, or with questions.

Stanzas are a group of one or more lines that make up a poem and act much like a paragraph with a main idea and a consistent theme. Stanzas signal a shift in the scene, a shift in focus, a shift in mood, a shift in time, or a pause. The pattern of stanzas can vary, and it must be both pleasing to the ear and to the eyes. Some poetry have only one stanza while others can go on and on in epic form. Depending on the kind of poem you are writing (like a couplet, a triplet, or a quatrain) will often determine the number of lines in a stanzas. For example, a Cinquain and a Limerick traditionally have five lines.

Meter is the emphasis in a line. It is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up a line of poetry. Meter is essential and gives regularity to a poem. The most common types of meter are iambic, trochaic, anapestic, and dactylic. 

Examples of meter:

Iambic has an emphasis on the second syllable foot. An iambic tetrameter has four iambic feet per line giving it eight syllables per line.

Example: to DAY, a DAY

Trochaic (pronounced Tro-CHEE) has an emphasis on the first syllable of a two syllable foot. A trochaic tetrameter has four two syllable feet giving it a total of eight syllables per line. 

Example: TIMing, TIME me

Anapestic has an emphasis on the third syllable in a three syllable foot. An anapestic tetrameter has four feet with three syllables with a total of twelve syllables per line.

Example: in a FORM

Dactylic has an emphasis on the first syllable of a three syllable foot. A dactyllic tetrameter has four feet containing three syllables each giving it twelve syllables per line.

Dactyl: CAL endar

Elements

The elements of poetry include rhythm, rhyme, form, and diction. Rhythm is the movement, repetition, and pattern of sound in a poem. It is the part of the poem that is easily discerned by ear and often heightens the emotional intensity. Rhythm is the heartbeat of a poem. It is what we sing and dance to. It is the defining element that separates poetry from prose.

Rhyme is the sound that similar vowels make and where the final consonant sound is in agreement. Rhyming is one of those elements I dare to experiment with in many of my poetry. I have a great appreciation for perfect rhymes, but I also take delight in free rhyme, where there is a close similarity in sound but not exact. It not only gives my poetry distinction, but also challenges some of the traditional notions of rhyming and gives a different impact to the emotion in the poetry.

Form is all of the structural components of a poem. It includes the rhythms, rhymes, stanzas, meter, and repetition found in the poem. In a way, it is the shape of the poem. The form of a poem determines the kind of poem it is. For example, an acrostic is a poem that uses the first letter of each line to spell out a word or phrase. It is this form that defines it as an acrostic.

Diction is the word choice and the order of the words in a poem. It is a combination of vocabulary and syntax. In a poem, language is used in a way that ordinary language can become complicated because there are so many different meanings to consider.

Verbs in Poetry

One way to improve a poem is to make the verbs more active. An active verb is a verb with more depth, more punch, and is more visual. If you have a problem poem that you are working on that does not seem to have the impact you desire, simply change the verbs. I usually use a thesaurus to look for verbs (and words) that have the meaning and impact needed. Below is a link to a worksheet I have used many times over the years to enhance the verbs in my poetry. It is a simple table where, on the left side, I list the problem verbs found in the poem I'm working on and, on the right side, I list more active verbs that will make a better substitute. Then I change the verbs in the poem until I have the result I'm looking for.

Download a free interactive and printable .pdf form to practice active verbs by clicking on this link.

What is Poetry?

What is poetry? Poetry is an art form that predates the written word. It was used as a means of recording oral history and may have had its origins in song. The oldest surviving poems, like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, were meant to be recited along with music. These poems were long narratives, known as epic poetry, and usually centered on heroic deeds. For example, the Iliad was an epic account of the Trojan War. According to Greek mythology, the Greeks laid siege to Troy for ten years after the Trojan prince, Paris, kidnapped the Spartan queen, Helen. In the Iliad, the story centered on the heroic deeds of both the Greeks and the Trojans during the war. In the Odyssey, the story follows the hero Odysseus on his way home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

Since the ancient period, defining exactly what poetry is and what determines good poetry has been debated. Plutarch described poetry as “painting that speaks.” Poetry uses language and prose that conveys a meaning and a purpose but can also be interpreted differently by different readers. Vocabulary is used to “paint” a story or express a particular emotion. For the ancients, the study of poetry revealed that it is a distinctive form of art, and they struggled for a definition that completely encompassed the aesthetics of poetry. Throughout the following centuries to the modern era, the definition of poetry continued to be elusive and interpreted as an art form that uses words as a creative means of expression. In general, poets are very careful about choosing words for a poem. Poets consider the clarity of the word, the emotional value, the spacing, and the spatial relationship of the word to the page. There is a beauty and significance when using the right word. In short, vocabulary can make or break a poem.

Determining what makes a good poem versus a bad poem is even more elusive than defining poetry. Poetry can be historical, fantasy, comical, tragic. Poets have a gift of communicating a thought with vocabulary and verse. By comparing great works of poetry over the centuries, we can get an impression of what makes a poem great. It is no coincidence that the best poetry stirs the emotions and can influence an entire culture, but the truest test of what makes a poem great is if it can stand the test of time. To be a good poet, you must first understand the mechanics behind poetry. Vocabulary plays a significant role, but poetry also contains many elements (rhythm, rhyme, form, and diction) as well as specific components (line, stanza, and meter), each of which will be discussed in future blog posts.