Tuesday, October 13, 2015

1. Discuss the limerick, along with its origins, patterns, and uses.
2. Write two limericks.

LIMERICKS

A limerick is a short, sometimes vulgar, humorous poem in five-line anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA). Lines 1, 2, and 5 have seven to ten syllables, rhyme, and have the same verbal rhythm. The 3^rd and 4^th lines have five to seven syllables, rhyme, and have the same rhythm.

Examples:

There was a young rustic named Mallory,

who drew but a very small salary.

When he went to the show,

his purse made him go

to a seat in the uppermost gallery.

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!

Writing a Limerick's absurd,

Line one and line five rhyme in word,

And just as you've reckoned

They rhyme with the second;

The fourth line must rhyme with the third.

2. Check poetry notebooks.