![]() Without any disrespect, let’s end with a limerick about a funeral.Ī silly young man from Clyde / In a funeral procession was spied / When asked, “Who is dead? / He giggled and said / “I don’t know I just came for the ride. There was a young woman named Kite / Whose speed was much faster than light / She set out one day / In a relative way / And returned on the previous night. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it above board (and above the belt). Here are a few more examples from the internet. For spoken-word performers, “limericks are as simple to think up and memorize as they are to write”. On the website “Poetry through the Ages” limericks are described as fun to create and “delightfully entertaining”. “There once was a man from Nantucket / Who kept all his cash in a bucket / But his daughter, named Nan / Ran away with a man / And as for the bucket, Nantucket.” The earliest published version apparently dates back to 1902. (Wikipedia.) The opening line is so well known that it, alone, has been used as a stand-alone joke, implying upcoming obscenities.īut there are “clean” Nantucket limericks as well. The protagonist in the obscene versions is “typically portrayed as well-endowed and hypersexualized”. “There once was a man from Nantucket” is the opening line for many of these poems, in which the name of the island creates rhymes and puns, often obscene. Nantucket, for some reason, is indelibly associated with raunchy limericks. Limerick expert, Don Marquis, identified three types of limericks: “Limericks to be told when ladies are present limericks to be told when ladies are absent but clergymen are present and LIMERICKS.” Limericks are described as “often humorously indecent”. But when I read about her funeral last week in the city of Limerick, I was triggered to revisit that famous (or infamous) form of poetry that got its name from this Irish city. The death of the Cranberries’ singer, songwriter, and musician, Dolores O’Riordan, is far removed from anything funny. That’s how we get to know each other better.Cranberries' singer, songwriter, and musician, Dolores O'Riordan Read and comment on others who have linked up with you.This is also where you can ask me for a writing prompt if you can’t think of a topic to write about. Add a link to your specific blog post in the Mister Linky.Write your limerick, or limerick-wanna-be, on any topic and post it on your blog.Do you need a specific writing prompt? Ask in the comment section below and I will give you one. All we have to do is write five lines of poetry that pretend to be a limerick. So, let’s relax the limerick rules for this challenge especially for those new to writing these little poems. They can have any content as long as they fit the meter and rhyme sound.įor some writing a limerick may seem difficult. Readers expect limericks to be humorous, erotic, politically satirical or just plain stupid, but they don’t have to be any of these things. However, I title every limerick I write even if I am only brave enough to recite or post the body of the limerick. These poems are so short that titles are optional. Notice that this limerick doesn’t have a title. This is not a requirement even though there are a whole class of limericks that start with “There once was a man from Nantucket”: Wikipedia credits Dayton Vorhees as originating the line in 1902. Many limericks, perhaps too many, start with “There once was a…” much like fairy tales start with “Once upon a time…”. Here’s the best part: There are no other constraints except that those fickle readers will expect to be entertained. One of the most famous limericks ever crafted begins with the line, 'There once was a man from Nantucket.' This seemingly innocuous phrase. ![]() This is what the reader expects to hear as far as meter and rhyme go. Lines three and four have a different rhyme sound with two anapestic feet each. Lines one, two and five have the same rhyme sound with three anapestic feet each. To illustrate that sound pattern, the poem is often displayed on the page in five lines. The limerick’s rhyme and meter sound is strict. This is where you can get an idea of what a limerick sounds like if you don’t already know: She also has a humor blog in which she hosts a bi-weekly contest with prompts for limericks. ![]() Madeleine Begun Kane covered limericks before: If you don’t know how to write a limerick, she provides a good description. Today’s form is the limerick, a tiny poem that sharpens its point in five short lines.
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