The Limerick! What are They? And How to Write One
Limericks are short, quirky poems that have been delighting readers for centuries.
What Is a Limerick?
A limerick is a five-line poem known for its bouncy rhythm, AABBA rhyme scheme, and often silly or nonsensical content.
Here are two examples by Edward Lear:
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, ‘It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!’
There was an Old Man in a tree,
Who was horribly bored by a bee;
When they said, ‘Does it buzz?’
He replied, ‘Yes, it does.’
It’s a regular brute of a bee!’
Now that you’ve heard some limericks, why not try writing your own? Here are some ideas to get you started:
Idea 1: You could start with a random name and go from there.
So…
There once was a boy named Fred,
Who balanced a loaf on his head,
Or…
A lady named Grace loved to sing,
But her voice made the neighbourhood ring.
Or…
A fellow named Max had a plan,
To build a house out of a can,
Or…
A girl named Sue had a shoe,
That squeaked every time it was new,
Idea 2: You could use a specific location.
So…
There once was a man from Peru,
Who dreamt he was eating a shoe,
Or…
A baker who lived in New York,
Made cakes shaped like a fork,
Or…
A dancer from the Isle of Skye,
Taught chickens to leap and fly,
Or…
A tourist from sunny Brazil,
Decided to climb a steep hill…
Idea 3: Maybe you could just think of something silly and unusual (the sillier, the better!)…
So…
A juggler who worked at the zoo,
Juggled bananas and shoes too…
Or…
A chef who made pies out of cheese,
Served them to penguins with ease…
Or…
A wizard who mowed people’s lawns,
Used spells to remove all the prawns…
Or…
A barber who danced as he cut,
Trimmed every head with a strut…
And now, here are some of my attempts…
There was a man called Andy,
Who spent all of his time in a tree,
People thought he was bonkers,
but he didn’t mind, because he had a pocketful of conkers,
and got a lots of Vitamin D!There was a woman called Daisy,
Who played the Ukulele,
She played it all the time,
And the whole town cried,
And said, ‘please stop playing the ukulele!’There was a boy called Fred,
Who didn’t like going to bed,
He said, ‘this mattress feels like it's filled with rocks,
And I don’t like taking off my socks,
So I’ll sleep in a tent instead!’
