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The posting in the Rainbows thread prompted me to start a thread about that underrated verse form, the Limerick, which as many can aver: The Limerick packs jokes anatomical into space that is quite economical. But the good ones I've seen so seldom are clean - and the clean ones so seldom are comical! Using similar spelling eccentricities as were in the Limerick that prompted this thread, can I also submit: When you think of the hosts without no. Who are slain by the deadly cuco. It's quite a mistake Of such food to partake: It results in a permanent slo. Richard English | ||
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Quote: But the good ones I've seen so seldom are clean - and the clean ones so seldom are comical! In which direction shall this thread go? (he asked, whistling innocently). | |||
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The limerick form is complex Its contents run chiefly to sex. It burgeons with virgins And masculine urge-ons And swarms with erotic effex! | |||
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There once was a maiden from Greece whose eyes at the corners did crease with laughing at postings and wordcrafter hostings and surely not poor Jason's fleece | |||
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There once was a girl from Nantucket.... ooops...can't use that one ![]() | |||
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The ladies adore Richard English. (Morgan clearly is seeking a fling. ![]() you well.) But it's arnie Whose wit, charm and blarney Is making the women here tinglish! ![]() | |||
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I won a holiday to Greece some years ago when a travel company posted a very poor limerick and challenged its readers to do better. I can't remember their effort but I chided them in my submission as follows: Your attempt at a Limerick rhyme must surely get better with time. The Limerick form has five lines, not four and the third and the fourth ought to rhyme! I would make a similar point as regards the previous submission ![]() Limericks have a very precise five-line structure with the first and second lines rhyming with the fifth while the third and the fourth rhyme separately with each other. No other form is acceptable. Of course, this does present a challenge to composers since the first line signposts the fifth so clearly. However (and the Nantucket example above is one such) clever writers have managed to create verses where the final line "outwits" readers and thus makes the whole limerick even more enjoyable. For example: The was a young lady from Bude who went for a swim in the nude. A young man shouted "Yes!" and I think I can guess that you thought the last line would be rude. Richard English | |||
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quote: Hmm... It's a strange feeling to find yourself as the punchline of a limerick. Flattered? Certainly. Surprised? Definitely. ![]() | |||
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There's arnie, shufitz, Bob, and Stan Asa, wordnerd, Richard, and tinman And don't forget Hic But for this limerick Nobody pleases like wordcrafter can! ![]() | |||
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There once was a guy called Wordcrafter Whose essays, alas, just caused laughter So he set up a site So that other folks might Post essays that were even dafter. | |||
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At a series of drama classes I attended recently we were set the task of writing some poetry. I responded by writing Limericks, each of which included the names of the students. So popular were the results that they were read out during the end-of-term concert. The secret is to think of two rhymes for the final word of the first line, then the whole thing falls into place. Fortunately, when writing about a person, it's easy to use the old standby phrases "...There was a young lady..." or "...A strapping young fellow..." So we could select a name from the illustrious company here present - say Morgan (whom I deduce is a lady) and the first line immediately falls into place (as do the rest): "A New York State lady called Morgan delighted in playing the Organ. The power it spells Its throbs and its swells (the conclusion it's music is foregone)" Richard English | |||
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quote: Indeed, I would further suggest that form and four are not actually rhymes unless you wish to claim a defense of assonance. Perhaps the limerick might flow better if it read Your attempt at a Limerick rhyme must surely get better with time. The Limerick form Has five lines, and the norm Is that third and the fourth ought to rhyme! One of my own relating to a vegetarian friend who was nevertheless partial to seafood curries (and who I am sure won't mind being named here), was John Rawlinson treated with scorn Any food that had ever been born He would simply not eat A dish made with meat Though he might stretch a point for a prawn. ... si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes Read all about my travels around the world here. | |||
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Uhhhhh....Bob? quote: Your attempt at a Limerick rhyme must surely get better with time. The Limerick form Has five lines, and the norm Is the first two and the last ought to rhyme! ![]() | |||
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quote: Well, of course I haven't heard you speak so I can't say what your voice is like. I also don't know how to use my phonetic character set in a post so I can't post the phonetic versions of 'scorn', 'born' and 'prawn' but certainly in every accent I'm familiar with those three words rhyme. 'Prawn' is phonetically writen with the same vowel symbol and terminating consonant as both of the other words. How do you pronounce 'prawn'. ![]() ![]() si hoc legere scis nimium eruditiones habes Read all about my travels around the world here. | |||
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muse: "It burgeons with virgins / And masculine urge-ons / And swarms with erotic effex!" The state of Utah in this country was settled by the Mormons, who came there under the leadership of Brigham Young. Brigham Young never was neuter, Monogamamous, shy, or a fruiter. Where ten thousand virgins Succumbed to his urgin's We now have the Great State of Utah. | |||
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On the "born, scorn" rhyme: There once was a man from Cape Horn Who wished he had never been born (Which he wouldn't have been If his mother had seen That the end of the rubber was torn). | |||
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>> ""A New York State lady called Morgan" ... etc. Incredible, Richard! My sides are splitting. ![]() | |||
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Quote "Indeed, I would further suggest that form and four are not actually rhymes" I know they're not! And neither were those in the Limerick that the holiday company had submitted. My incorrect rhyming was to emphasise the point by showing literally the result of incorrect construction. Maybe I was trying to be too clever! Richard English | |||
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Since nobody has commented upon my "deadly cuco." Limerick I have to assume that you all found it simple to interpret. So how about this one (I suspect that it will be only UK readers who can interpret it) There was a young lady from Salisbury whose manners were Halisbury-Scalisbury. She travelled round Hampshire without any Pampshire 'cos she couldn't be bothered to Walisbury Richard English | |||
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Concerning that lady from Salisbury: Have you yet made her part of your Halisbury? (Richard succumbs To the charm of her bums, Whenever she chances to Balisbury.) | |||
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It's men with that lady from Salisbury - she acts in that way just to scalisbury! Since a blicester from Bicester went off with her sicester and now they're both living in Faresbury. Richard English | |||
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Anonymous: There was an old party of Lyme Who married three wives at one time. When asked: "Why the third?" He replied: "One's absurd, And bigamy, Sir, is a crime." | |||
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