What is a Limerick? The Craft of Writing

The limerick is an old form, schtick,
It is a communication that I do pick,
Tho its reputation,
Has a correlation,
With bad 'rep', sim'lar to Rap music!

The limerick at the heading of this article reflects a common conception, by which Limericks are often thought of as a lesser form of poetry, with little basis in intellect. They are the "one liners" of poetic fare: which is to say that they are enjoyed, but not respected as true poetry. The limerick has been delegated to the lower echelon of the poetic ranks, and that may be the very same thing that has engendered my affinity for these poems.

There are, though, those that are very critical of any Limerick that does not meet the meter to which the form has been ascribed, as it has evolved. The most widely accepted meter is three metrical feet, or anapests, in the first, second and fifth lines, and two metrical feet, or anapests, in the third and fourth lines, as in the following example:

da da DUM da da Dum da da DUM
da da DUM da da Dum da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da DUM
da da DUM da da Dum da da DUM

Another accepted meter is to make the first metrical foot of the limerick an iamb, which is : da DUM, with two anapests to follow, as in:

da da DUM da da DUM,:

"There once, was a man, from South Wales"

There is room for poetic license in both of these scenarios, and there is an option for an extra unaccented syllable at the end of a line in the Limerick. The form would be:

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da

"There was a young man from old Hebron",

In this example the emphasis is on the first syllable of the last word in the line. If this exception is used, then it should continue throughout the second and fifth lines to maintain proper meter.

Another accepted definitive scheme of the limerick is that the rhyming words must be different in each line, and cannot be repeated at the end of any of the following lines. This is a good idea, for the most part, because of the fact that it inspires more ingenuity and creativity in the creation of a verse. When you rhyme three words, instead of recycling the same word in subsequent lines, it tends to show greater creativity.