Poem style: Limerick

A fun way to expand your understanding of English is writing literature. In this case lets look at a type of poem. The poem style Limerick is a common type learned by all English speaking children. It is very simple and very fun. The rhyme scheme is called ‘AABBA.’ This is because the structure is as follows:

They are five lines long.

Lines, 1, 2 and 5 rhyme with one another. (the AA--A in the rhyme scheme)

Lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other. (the --BB- in the rhyme scheme)

It also has a distinctive rhythm or beat structure. Lets look at the beat structure of the poem. It looks like this.

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

da DUM da da DUM

da DUM da da DUM

da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

The ‘DUM’ is pronounced stronger than the ‘da’ in the poem. Now that you see the rhyme and basic structure of the poem lets look at a popular limerick.

There was on old man with a beard,

Who said, “It is just as I feared!

Two owls and a hen,

Four larks and a wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!”

A very funny poem. First you can see beard, feared, and beard (again) all rhyme. Then hen and wren rhyme. Last you emphasis the words like this:

There WAS on old MAN with a BEARD,

Who SAID, “It is JUST as I FEARED!

Two OWLS and a HEN,

Four LARKS and a WREN,

Have ALL built their NESTS in my BEARD!”

That is the poem style called limerick. Let’s see how I do at making my own.

A CAT with no HOME had a BOX

It HUNTed at NIGHT with a FOX

They WOULD roam all aROUND

PoachING all ‘round TOWN

When DONE they would REST at the DOCKS.

And that is a limerick. If you look closely ‘HUNT’ is emphasised but ‘ed’ is not. That is because the beat structure of the poem is not based on words. It is based on syllables. Words like ‘boat’ or ‘feared’ or ‘docks’ all have only one syllable. Words like ‘limerick’ or ‘hunted’ or ‘around’ have more than one syllable. ‘Limerick’ has 3 syllables and look like this ‘lim-er-ick’ ‘Hunted’ has 2 syllables look like this ‘hunt-ed’. ‘Around’ has 2 syllables and looks like this ‘a-round’.

You can see there is much to even a simple poem. Go and give it a try! Don’t worry about making a mistake. My poem took longer than you might think! I hope you have fun.

If you are interested in learning English check out my profile at Cafetalk.com where I offer private tutoring.

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