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Limericks. Are they masters of talent? Do they even merit a place amongst poets of genre?

The form of poetry referred to as Limerick poems have received incredibly bad press and dismissed as not having a rightful place amongst what is seen as ‘cultivated poetry’. The reason for this is three-fold:

1. The content of many limericks is often of a bawdy and humorous nature. :cheer::drinking::yahoo::dancing::coolmusic:
2. A Limerick as a poetry form is by nature simple and short - limericks only have five lines.:post:
3. The somewhat dubious history of limericks have contributed to the critics attitudes.:read::thumbsdown::argue::pirate2::bangin::tomatoed:

For example,

There once was a teacher of rhyme
Who thought it a matter time
Soon he’d be discovered
Instead he uncovered
That plagiarized rhyme was a crime

Love to all you nutty people

sw

the Limerick brings back a memory to me--as a sophomore in High School and being in a writing class I enjoyed very much we were all assigned to write a lymerick and given a very few minutes to do so--what we didn't know is that our creations :) were going to be entered into a contest and judged--(I am soo not into that :thinking:) I placed in the contest and was told that it was unusual for a lymerick to be anything but humourous but they called mine ''profound'' :redface:
and after that all the boys (who absolutely Hated this class :D) begged me to write their lymericks for them--and I remember doing one little creation about a rooster who crowed on demand ;)--we will never mind that one :clap: --but this was my entry and my first lymerick.....

''the proud white fluff was white as snow,
but age soon took away her glow--
and tho she was loved,
she curled up with the dust
not able to bear growing old.'' :whistle:

Limericks - The History

Variants of the form of poetry referred to as Limerick poems can be traced back to the fourteenth century English history. Limericks were used in Nursery Rhymes and other poems for children. But as limericks were short, relatively easy to compose and bawdy or sexual in nature they were often repeated by beggars or the working classes in the British pubs and taverns of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventh centuries. The poets who created these limericks were therefore often drunkards! Limericks were also referred to as dirty.

Where does the term ‘Limerick’ come from?

The word derives from the Irish town of Limerick. Apparently a pub song or tavern chorus based on the refrain “Will you come up to Limerick?” where, of course, such bawdy songs or ‘Limericks’ were sung.

Limericks - The form  

Limericks consist of five anapaestic lines.
Lines 1, 2, and 5 of Limericks have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another.
Lines 3 and 4 of Limericks have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other.

Limericks - A Defence - Shakespeare even wrote Limericks!

Admittedly the content of Limericks can often verge on the indecent, the dirty, or even the obscene, but they make people laugh! Limericks are easy to remember! Limericks are short and no great talent is necessary to compose one - Limericks are a form of poetry that everyone feels happy to try (especially when inebriated!). Limericks as a form of poetry has survived the test of time dating back for centuries! And whilst the poetic and literary skills of Shakespeare are not necessary for the composition of a limerick the great Bard himself did in fact write limericks which can be found in two of his greatest plays - Othello and King Lear.

The Limericks of Edward Lear - Limericks are Fun!!

Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense included the poetry form of Limericks. His work with limericks were, however, was not in any way indecent and this particular book proved to be extremely popular in the nineteenth century and this was contributed to by the humorous magazine Punch which started printing examples of limericks leading to a craze by its readers. The first edition of Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense was published by Thomas McLean on 10th February 1846. There were altogether seventy-two limericks in two volumes which sold at 3s 6d each. These limericks have proven to be extremely popular with children.

Hi SW!! This is for you::friends:

Ride on, oh warrior of the night
How welcome is the source of your light
Our foes turn tail,
the truth will prevail!
Till you come and are clearly in sight.

A Flea, a Fly in the Flue:bee::flyinghigh:

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
:funnyface:

Reasons Limericks are an authentic form of poetry- to combat the 3 reasons above:

1.  There are other forms of poetry that are bawdy that are considered authentic verse.  Consider "The Canterbury Tales".  One of the most famous stories in History, and quite bawdy.

2. A haiku is also a short form of poetry, and ulike a limerick, doesn't rhyme.  So if a haiku is poetry, so should a limerick be considered poetry.

3. The history of a thing is soon outshadowed by the thing itself.  For instance, if you google the term "Fibs", you wil find out about a form of poetry based on the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, i.e. 1-1-2-3-5-8-13-21-etc.  This too is a short form of poetry, and has a dubious history, but is soon becoming an accepted art form.

I've never written a limerick, but was inspired to try for this thread.  Here is my effort:

There once was a lady who sang,
Clear as a bell, her voice rang.
Until one day she fell,
To the bottom of the well,
And her voice disappeared with a "DANG!"

I'll keep trying....:shy::rolleyes:
Much love to all my fellow poets- esp. Smoldering Wick who has helped me greatly,:heartbeat::friends::hug::drinking:
Sis Micah:whistle:

CaliHavoc wrote:

There once was a lady who sang,
Clear as a bell, her voice rang.
Until one day she fell,
To the bottom of the well,
And her voice disappeared with a "DANG!"

Excellent!! Great action with expressive dialogue. Good inspiration for longer poetry too. I believe that the limerick is excellent exercise for the brain and will do much toward warding off Alzheimers. So come on, you people! Give it a go! :cheer::post::ok:

Here's a sample. You fill in the blanks!

There once was a pauper named Meg

Who by accident had broken her _______.

She slipped on the ______.

Not one time but thrice

Take no pity on her,  __________.

There once was a pauper named Meg

Who by accident had broken her leg.

She slipped on the rice.

Not one time but thrice

Take no pity on her,  it was a peg leg!


Although I like e-magine's too.

Here's another one I wrote:

A boy who sat watching the sheep
thought long and thought hard and thought deep
of the trouble he could cause
he wanted to- "just because"!
He'd cry wolf and make people weep.


Hee hee hee!!! Give us more fill in the blanks!:thumbup:

Alrighty then!
There once was a man from Japan
Whose poetry never would scan
When told this was so
He replied, “Yes I know,”
But I always try to get as many words in the last line as I possibly can!:whistle:

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Hiya, SW!

I don't know how I missed that!

Here's another one for you:

By a still green pool I sat and waited,
With my heart in my throat and breath baited,
For my king to come along,
To teach me right from wrong-
His kingdom is anticipated!

Eh, I try...;)

Much love,
Sis Micah :neo:

Well done, Micah!
:cheer::ok::dancing::yahoo::greatjob::groupwave:

For that you get a personal limerick!

She was known to have raised some havoc,
This Lady we know as CaliHavoc,
While somewhat elusive,
She's not unobtrusive,
When driving her point like a Mack Truck!
:thumbsup::bangin::thumbsup:

affection,

sw

Sounds very much like Dr suess type stuff.

There was once a man with a fiddle
who was always caught in the middle
he played with the best
and put most ot rest
like the man holding the key to a riddle.

Hey you're all really good, so promise not to laugh!!!

There was a young man named Michael
who owned little more than a cycle
but he was good hearted and kind
and I thought what a great find!
So I married him quick when he dallied.