Limerick

A limerick (is):

1. is five lines long,
2. is based on the rhythm "da-da-DAH" (anapest meter)
3. has two different rhymes.
4. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have three of those da-da-DAH "feet," and rhyme with each other.
5. Lines 3 and 4 have two, and rhyme with each other.

So the basic form is:

da da DAH / da da DAH / da da BING 

da da DAH / da da DAH / da da DING 

da da DAH / da da BAM 

da da DAH / da da WHAM 

da da DAH / da da DAH / da da PING 

Limericks can:

1. drop the first "da" in a line, changing that foot to da-DAH (iamb).
2. add an extra "da" or two at the end of a line IF it's used for an extended rhyme, such as people and steeple or cannibal and Hannibal.
3. use special fonts or characters to make a point,

A Limerick is a rhymed humorous or nonsense poem of five lines which originated in Limerick, Ireland.   

The Limerick has a set rhyme scheme of : a-a-b-b-a with a syllable structure of: 9-9-6-6-9. 

Limericks can also be written in AMPHIBRACH meter/

- two lines of amphibrachic trimeter, two lines of amphibrachic dimeter,

and a final line of amphibrachic trimeter.

Below my visual template shows two perfectly acceptable Limerick Forms.

Example Poem

Dancing with the Stars   (limericks)

There once was a hippo that  danced 

for a troupe that was poorly financed 

but when word got around 

what a treasure'd been found 

the promoters good fortunes advanced. 

So she hired a bear that could skate 

and folks made long queues at the gate

for in love were the stars 

both as big as small cars 

and the rumor was spread that they'd mate. 

Well the owner would not much like that, 

so she brought in a bull from North Platte 

that could juggle and dance 

just to counter the chance 

the hippo might later get fat.

© Lawrencealot - November 17, 2012

Visual Templates

Anapest version

Amphibrach Version