The form has since shifted in demographic and is now more likely to be shared on playgrounds than among scholars, but it does maintain a loyal following among poetry lovers for its unique brand of humor. Limericks remained predominantly a form popular with educated males for quite some time.Īnd as such a large number of limericks from historical texts display rampant sexism, casting women in negative or secondary roles. While they still come off as humorous, the humor predominantly came from a sense of randomness in the narrative. Lear’s limericks were written at a time when illustrations and repeated lines were customary and are much more nonsensical than most modern limericks. This historical figure is to limericks what William Shakespeare was to the sonnet and is credited with the spread of the limerick through literary culture. Limericks were popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, who wrote a whopping 212 limericks across multiple publications. This tension between what literature is expected to be and what a limerick actually is might be the only accomplishment that the form actually has to offer, but it certainly is a unique one. The form knows what it is and revels in its absurdity. The limerick, paradoxically, has no such intentions.Ī limerick does not struggle to be relevant any more than a fish struggles to walk. Their very presence as a literary form is a bold middle finger in the middle of an ocean of genres and forms that are all trying desperately to be relevant. Limericks hold a unique place in literature as they exist almost exclusively for entertainment. The last line, however, reuses the same word after introducing a character called “Nan” to share the concluding moment of the plot in an amusingly circular way.Īs would be expected of a limerick, there’s not much to take away from the poem. In the first line, it explicitly refers to the place, as expected. The most creative aspect of this poem is in the use of the word “Nantucket.” The remaining third and fourth lines are used specifically to start the twist, which is still a fairly typical way of doing things even now. This, of course, establishes that the second line will need to end with Nantucket and, as the limerick was written back when the last line and first line of limericks tended to mirror each other, actually sets up more than half of the poem by itself. In this case, the character is an unnamed man and the location is Nantucket. What Is an Example of a Limerick?Īs with most limericks, the poem begins with the setting and character. The comedy of a limerick is usually tied to a twist in the poem’s narrative. In the earliest limericks, this line would essentially be reused as the end line, but this practice has since fallen out of favor. The first line commonly establishes a person and a place. It has been argued that true limericks, as a folk form, must be obscene by their very nature and that their willingness to tread on taboo topics is critical to the form. Limericks nearly always convey a comedic little narrative. Modern limericks do not always stick to the prescribed meters, but the rhyme scheme has persisted to this day as the defining feature of the poem, structurally. While the meter in the shorter lines can vary, it typically sticks to anapests.Īn anapest consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable, ensuring that the poem will be punctuated by punchy and mildly jarring variations in sound. The longer lines are typically written in anapestic trimeter while the third and fourth lines only feature two feet instead. The third and fourth lines feature the second rhyme sound and are typically shorter than the rest of the poem. Limericks have a fairly strict rhyme scheme (AABBA) in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other. Scattered popularity over the last few centuriesĪlmost always comedic, strictly meant for entertainment What Are the Basic Properties of a Limerick? Rhyme Structure They are usually presented with an appealing little bit of rhyme.ĭespite their lighthearted nature, limericks actually represent an interesting challenge since the poet needs to fit a snippet of narrative and a dash of comedy into just five lines, often while respecting meter. Limericks are a favorite of children since they typically pack the punch expected from a one-liner. 8 What Are the Most Important Types of Poems? What Is a Limerick?
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