Happy Limerick Day
Today is Limerick Day. It celebrates the birthday of Edward Lear (1812 – 1888). Lear made limericks popular in his 1846 publication “A Book of Nonsense”
What is a limerick?
A limerick is a five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet.
A couplet is a two-line rhymed poem and a triplet is a three-line.
What are the typical characteristics of Limericks?
- Limericks are a funny and nonsense poem.
- They have five lines.
- They have a rhyme scheme of A, A, B, B, A (lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme; lines 3 and 4 rhyme).
- The syllabification is 8, 8, 5, 5, 8.
Did you know? Limerick is also a large city in Ireland.
What a limerick is in a crunch
Is a bit like a loony’s light lunch
Though it briefly delights
It’s just four nutty bites
Swallowed down with a ludicrous punchBy Graham Lester
Other Links:
- Teaching Ideas
- How to write a Limerick by Bruce Lansky
- Edward Lear’s Nonsense Work
- Write an instant limerick (online form)
- A collection of limericks for kids
- Teacher Planet Limerick Day Theme Page
Do you have a favourite Limerick? Share it with us in the comments below.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment