Day 24 ~ "Limerick Poem" for 30 Poems in 30 Days" #NationalPoetryMonth

Let's Write a Limerick!!

Here's another poetry form for April's #NationalPoetryMonth ~ Have fun!!

A Limerick is a rhymed humorous or nonsense poem of five lines which originated in Limerick, Ireland. The most commonly heard first line of a limerick starts with: "There once was a man from ___________."

 

Example:

The Man From Aruba                      
There once was a man from Aruba,
Whose favorite hobby was scuba.
Every day he would wish,
He could spear a big fish.
But settled instead for canned tuna.         
          

                         © 2005 Jim Dupy

The Limerick has a set rhyming scheme of: A-A-B-B-A (meaning lines ENDING in “A” must rhyme with each other and lines ENDING in “B” must rhyme with each other) and with a syllable pattern of: 9-9-6-6-9. OR, perhaps more common is: 8-8-5-5-8. (See details per line below) and some limericks even mix it up a little.

Line 1 – “a” – 8 or 9 syllables

Line 2 – “a” – 8 or 9 syllables

Line 3 – “b” – 5 or 6 syllables

Line 4 – “b” – 5 or 6 syllables

Line 5 – “a” – 8 or 9 syllables

Here is a rather famous limerick with the pattern "sounded out" underneath each line (written in blue) ~ the number of "DUMS" is the important part ~ also notice the rhyming pattern A-A-B-B-A:

There was an old man from Peru, (A)
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM (3 DUMS)
who dreamed he was eating his shoe. (A)
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM (3 DUMS)
He awoke in the night (B)
da DUM da da DUM (2 DUMS)
with a terrible fright, (B)
da da DUM da da DUM (2 DUMS)
and found out that it was quite true. (A)
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM (3 DUMS)

It’s rather “sing-songy” so just play around with it and then check to be sure the correct lines end in rhymes and that you have the correct number of syllables. It’s tricky, but very fun!!

Here you can see me PLOTTING out a fun little limerick I wrote a few years ago about my then 6-year-old grandaughter: 

 

Six-year-old granddaughter, Taylor,

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
Amazing piano player.

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
A song she will hear

da DUM da da DUM                    
Then play it by ear,

da DUM da da DUM
So pretty, I’ll have to pay her!

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

Here is the finished version: 

The Piano Player 

   

Six-year-old granddaughter, Taylor,

Amazing piano player.

A song she will hear               
Then play it by ear,

So pretty, I’ll have to pay her!

                   © 2012 Stephanie Abney

And,  here’s the one I wrote the first time I did a "30 Poems in 30 Days" challenge in 2011:

The Poetry Fest

        

Stephanie had a poetry fest

Encouraging friends to do their best

“Write a poem each day,

I’ll show you the way.”

“At the end of the month we will rest!

                       © 2011 Stephanie Abney

 

Your turn ~ whatcha' got?

 

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Also, if you choose to post your poems on your own blog ~ that’s awesome. But PLEASE don’t just copy and paste my daily instructions, but rather post your poem on your blog or you FB wall or wherever AND LINK BACK TO THIS BLOG POST for others to come here to read the instructions. I’ve spent considerable time researching the poetry forms and writing them up to share with you. Thanks for respecting my work.