How to Write a Limerick

We often hear people talk about limericks but the word seems foreign to us and we wonder what a limerick is.

Well, a limerick is a type of poem. Sometimes referred to as the "nonsense poem" a limerick is filled with humor and wit. While the poem is meant to cheer you up and make you laugh, it can also leave you thinking and inspire you too.

How to Write a Limerick

A limerick consists of five lines with a rhyme scheme of AABBA. Each of the lines has a specific meter measure. The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines have three feet, three syllables each, while the 3rd and 4th lines have two feet, three syllables each.

There are two types of "feet" in a limerick: either anapestic (two short unstressed syllables and a long stressed syllable) or amphibrachic (one stressed syllable and two unstressed syllables.

An easier way to illustrate this is to think of a rhythm that sounds like DA-DUM. One "foot" of an anapestic meter will have a rhythm of DA-DA-DUM, while one "foot" of an amphibrachic meter will have a rhythm of DA-DUM-DA.

When you finish writing your limerick read it with the DA-DA-DUM or DA-DUM-DA sounding rhythm. Your 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines, which are three "feet," should have three sets of DA-DA-DUMs or DA-DUM-DAs each. Your 3rd and 4th lines, which are two "feet," should have two sets of DA-DA-DUMs or DA-DUM-DAs each. If the lines sound like this then you've nailed the form. If your lines don't sound like this you may have to tweak the poem a bit. I am not sure if it is a must for the lines to strictly follow this rhythm/meter pattern to still be considered a limerick but it is best to adhere to the rules.

While a limerick consists of five lines you can have a long limerick poem that consists of many stanzas each one its own limerick poem. In this case the poems will most likely be of a similar nature or of a similar theme. Writing limericks in this way is both interesting and fun and a little more challenging. Once you figure out what you want to write about, writing a limerick is not that difficult to master, regardless of what kind it is and how long you intend for it to be.

Even though limericks are meant to be humorous you can still use poetic techniques in the poem such as metaphor, simile, personification and alliteration. Do not hesitate with experimenting with poetic techniques when writing this type of poetry. It will be more creative and challenging and you will be able to expand yourself as a poet and writer.

Example of a Limerick

A fellow I know bought a suit
I think it was made out of jute
The colours were mellow
It was red, green, and yellow
He looked like a large bowl of fruit

This limerick is an excerpt from a long limerick poem "Get a Load of This" written by the talented poet Regis Auffray. He published his limericks on the AuthorsDen site and has published three limerick books.

Some interesting facts about Limericks

• Edward Lear made this poetic form popular in this book Book of Nonsense, which he published in 1845. The origin of the name references the county of Limerick, which is located Ireland.
• They were used during World Word II to gain higher priority when it came time to get new guns fitted to the Dutch sloop known as Soemba.
• Poets tend to write limericks about a person or a place and they introduce that specific person or place in the first line of the poem.
• Limerick poetry is a play on words.
• Limericks can be turned into songs and it's been done in the past and present. Just add a refrain verse (chorus) between each five-line limerick and you got yourself a limerick song.
• Some people write limericks using the required meter but refrain from using the required rhyme scheme of AABBA. These types of poems are referred to as "anti-limericks." People like W.S. Gilbert have written "anti-limericks."

I will admit that I wasn't a big fan of limericks at first. After helping my friend Regis Auffray with his limerick books I fell in love with limericks and have even written a few of my own. Now I am a limerick fan. Limericks are certainly an addictive form of poetry. So, I will definitely be writing them from now on. Thanks to Regis I have written many limericks and even published a limerick book of my own Scenes from a Quirky Life.