Lighten Up With Limericks

by

Mona Hodgson

Let’s take a peek at light verse. Specifically, the playful and versatile limerick.

Like haiku, the limerick offers brevity with a twist. A rhymed twist, that is. And here’s an example from Edward Lear, the master of the limerick.

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 nest in my beard!”

The Shape of It

Probably the most popular verse form in English, the limerick consists of five lines. The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme, as do the third and fourth lines. This creates two rhyme schemes in an a a b b a rhyming pattern:

a beard

a feared

b hen

b wren

a beard

Now read the limerick aloud. Again. Have you picked up on its singsongishness yet? The third and fourth lines are on foot shorter than the other three. The first, second, and fifth lines are trimeter; the third and fourth, dimeter. And the dominant rhythm is anapestic (with an occasional iamb substitution). A good limerick can put you into a full gallop with its bouncy rhythm and rhyme scheme.

Tips and examples

The last line should offer an unexpected twist. A surprise.

Ross In The Sauce

There once was a pizza man, Ross

Who always gave dough a big toss.

He would fling it up high,

raise his hands to the sky,

then trip and plop into the sauce. MH

Create sound effects with alliteration and onomatopoeic words.

SAL'S PEN PAL

There once was a writer named Sal,

a very verbose wordy gal.

Nothing was simple.

A sentence for dimple.

She needed an editing pal. MH

Did you pick up on the alliteration? I repeated the “w” sound in writer and wordy.

In Ross in the Sauce, I use an onomatopoeia—fling. Onomatopoeic words imitate their meaning through their sound. For example: crack, snap, buzz, pop, smash, sizzle, and whisper.

Like rhymed words and alliteration, an onomatopoeia can add ear-pleasing pizzazz to limericks and the sound effects are built into them. Use internal rhymes and alliteration in your limericks like you would salt on a slice of chilled watermelon—judiciously. You don’t want to distract the tongue and overpower the flavor.

Play with words. Amuse yourself with the sounds, meanings, and connections of words, and you’ll become a better writer. Hunt for and choose clever word choices. Here’s another one of mine as an example.

Snake Meets Bull

There once was a brown rattlesnake

who always like chocolate cake.

He enjoyed eating rats

and sometimes like bats,

but one day got hungry for steak. MH

Don’t settle for the cliché rhyme or easy rhyme. (Refer to the previous column on rhymed verse for examples of overused word pairs.)

As in all poetry forms, you want your lines to end with your strongest words. Usually nouns or active verbs.

Where Do They Come From?

Ideas for limericks can come from anywhere and everywhere. Everyday life. Observances. Sounds. Passions. Look around you. What do you see? Limericks find homes housed in topics from beards to verbosity. From pizza to snakes. Comical and satirical in style, the limerick thrives on everyday life experiences and observances.

Your Turn

Writing limericks can be loads of fun. And it's a wonderfully creative exercise. It’s your turn to give it a try and here’s a suggestion for getting started.

1. Choose the name or nickname of a friend, family member, or co-worker. It may be someone with a birthday (or other gift-receiving occasion) on the horizon.

2. List memories or impressions you have of that person. They could relate to his or her vocation, hobbies, or personality.

3. Brainstorm words (particularly nouns, verbs, and adjectives) that rhyme with the name.

4. Using the proper name at the end of the first line, mold your observation, explanation, or pure fiction into the shape of a limerick. Remember: the limerick’s punch-line usually grows out of the ridiculous.

5. Give it some polish with clever word rhymes and a fun twist at the end.

Congratulations! You’ve lightened up with limericks. Now, pass it on.