Limerick
Limericks are fun poems. Their main purpose is to entertain the reader.
The topics are usually absurd. The poet often changes the spellings of
words or uses pun, a play on words, to create the desired effect. The
ending of a limerick often presents a twist. Limericks have a specific
structure. The rhyme scheme is usually AABBA.
| A lady there was in Antigua
|
A |
| Who said to her spouse ‘What
a pigua.’ |
A |
| He answered ‘My queen
|
B |
| Is it manners you mean --- |
B |
| Or do you refer to my figua? |
A |
* All the above limericks
are from Letts, John, A Little Treasury of Limericks.
Fair and Foul. London, Pan Books, 1973.
| There was a young cashier
of Calais |
A |
| Whose accounts when reviewed
wouldn‘t talais. (tally) |
A |
| But his chief smelled a
rat |
B |
| When he furnished a flat
|
B |
| And was seen every night
at the Balais. (ballet) |
A |
Edward Lear popularized
the limerick form in his Book of Nonsense
(1846).
His last line, however, was usually a variation of his first line.
|