Limericks

Limericks are a popular form of humorous poetry with a specific rhyme scheme and metre (rhythm). A limerick has five lines with a rhyme scheme of aabba as seen in the examples below. The metre is anapestic (two short beats followed by a long beat).

There was an old man from Peru,
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
He awoke in the night
In a terrible fright
And found it was perfectly true.

I sat next to the Duchess at tea.
It was just as I feared it would be:
Her rumblings abdominal
Were simply abominable,
And everyone thought it was me.

A wonderful bird is the Pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a week!
But I'm damned if I see how the hellican.

There once was a lady from Spain
Who was sick as she rode on a train.
Not once, but again--
and again and again--
and again and again and again.

There was a young woman from Niger,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
They returned from the ride with the woman inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.

A decrepit old gas man named Peter,
While hunting around for the metre,
Touched a leak with his light.
He arose out of sight,
And as anyone can see by reading this, he
also destroyed the metre.