373. The Limerick is five lines of encapsulated humour, wisdom and surprises. It uplifts our grey days and celebrates our glory days. Please add your favourite here. . .
Was the Limerick created by Vikings in 922AD? Vikings were great sailors and traders. The Irish town of Limerick had contact with Vikings and traders from all over Europe. So the origin is unknown
In 1845, Edward Lear published 'The Book of Nonsense' in which he featured 72 limericks. This is the first recorded history of published limericks. But historians say Viking sailors sang sea shanties with the limerick format. No one knows the origin for sure. This is Limerick city today. Beautiful.
What does a limerick look like? Read on . . .
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is economical
But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.
Competition winners
‘Eskimo Nell’ was voted the most bawdy poem by Irish patrons of a Liverpool pub. They spent a raucous evening drinking and singing 400 verses. It’s a bawdy rhymed poem/song that recounts the tale of Deadeye Dick, his accomplice Mexican Pete and a woman they met on their travels. Google will provide the other 399 verses.
My favourite limerick
This young lady was quite a rascal
She wore a newspaper dress to a ball.
The dress caught on fire
And burned her entire
Front page, sporting section, and all.
What's your favourite limerick? Add it here in comments.
Report #373.
There is no prize. It’s just a fun thing. BM
A great way to introduce children to writing poetry.
There was a young man from NOME
(you write the rest . . . )