Limericks for Limerick Day

Yes, writing a limerick is tricky
but you might be glad it's not sticky
or this page would be stuck
to your fingers, with luck
and that would be terribly icky

The limerick is an easy form of poetry to learn - it's not as strict as, say, iambic pentameter (think "Shall I compare thee..."), but it has enough in the way of rules to make it a bit of a challenge - great for kids developing their language skills and vocabulary (and adults, too!).

The rhyme scheme of a limerick should be A-A-B-B-A. So the last word of the first two lines and the fifth line should all rhyme, and the last words of the third and fourth lines should rhyme. Like so:

There was an Old Lady whose folly (A)
Induced her to sit in a holly; (A)
Whereon, by a thorn (B)
her dress being torn, (B)
She quickly became melancholy. (A)

See?

Rhythm is also especially important in limericks, since they all follow the same pattern, like this:

DA dum da da dum da da Dum dum
Da dum da da dum da da dum dum
Da da da da dum
Da da da da dum
Da da da da da da da dum dum.

Clear as mud? Try reading a few out loud, and you'll start to see this pattern emerge as you say the words. To put it more concisely, there should be 7 or 8 syllables in the first, second and fifth lines (either 7 or 8 for all of them, not a mixture in the one poem) and 4 or 5 in the third and fourth (again, not a mixture in the one poem).

But don't worry too much about the rules. Limericks are supposed to be fun, first and foremost.

Get this Limerick on a Magnet by spikeys_studio