Writing Scoop: May 12 -National Limerick Day!

Today IS National Limerick Day: May 12!

A limerick is a type of poem that is usually funny.  It has 5 lines and is predominantly anapestic meter, having a disciplined rhyme of AABBA.  The 1st, 2nd & 5th line rhyme and the 3rd & 4th lines are shorter and have their own rhyme.

It is thought that the poem type, limerick, derived its name from County Limerick in Ireland, where perhaps the first limericks originated.

Here are 2 limericks for your enjoyment:

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.


The British wordplay and recreational mathematics expert Leigh Mercer (1893–1977) devised the following mathematical limerick:
This is read as follows:
A dozen, a gross, and a score
Plus three times the square root of four
Divided by seven
Plus five times eleven
Is nine squared and not a bit more (Wikipedia).


Now try making up your own limericks!









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