Limerick as a genre of English poetry Plokhotyuk A. 11-th Form Irida School Superviser of studies- Andronova S.V., English teacher

Aim: - to get acquainted with English poetic folklore; - to learn about the history and structure of limericks; Tasks: - to study the structure of limericks; - to get acquainted with the authors and translations of limericks; - to conduct a survey of classmates; - to present a selection of my classmate’s own translations of English limericks. The object of study: Limericks make the object of our study

The history of limerics Limerick is a type of poetry, so to say “a nonsense poem” which is filled with humor and wit. Limerick poetry is a play of words. The characters of these poems are comical, funny people. Limerick is made to cheer you up, it can also make you thinking and inspire you too.

Limerick poems can be traced back to the 14th century English history Limerick poems can be traced back to the 14th century English history. Limericks were used in nursery rhymes and other poems for children. Limericks were short, relatively easy to compose and they were often repeated by beggars or the working class in the British pubs and taverns of the 15th , 16th and 17th centuries. It is believed that the word originates from the Irish town of Limerick. There is also a suggestion that it comes from the Irish word “a menny lay” meaning “a happy song”.

The most famous English author of limericks is Edward Lear, an English poet and artist. He was born in 1812 in London. He was the 12-th child of the family and had to earn his own living at the age of 15. When he was 19 he began to work as an artist at the zoo. In a year he published a book of coloured drawings of parrots. The Earl of Derby liked Lear`s work and invited him to stay with his family and paint the collection of his birds. Lear worked there for 4 years and it was during that period that he wrote his first limericks to amuse Earl`s grandchildren. Those nonsense verses were illustrated by charming pen drawings.

In 1846 he gave 12 drawing lessons to Queen Victoria and could successfully continue his career at the royal court or in the estates of the English aristocracy, but he chose the life of an independent artist . However, Lear had many skills and talents: he fluently spoke and wrote in several languages, was a landscape painter and a brilliant draughtsman, an excellent botanist and ornithologist, composed music for a lot of his own poems. Lear was considered to be a weirdo, and he certainly was. Despite the hard work, he lived very modestly. Lear disliked the high society way of life. He loved solitude. The only one who spent his days close to Lear for about 10 years, accompanying him everywhere, was a cat, FOSS by name.

In 1846 in London a little book was published with the strange name of "Book of nonsense". The book sold out in no time. Hilarious nonsense, or nonsense, as they are called English, are very appreciated by young readers.

Poems consist of 5 lines where the first line rhymes with the second and the last one, and third with the fourth. As in any short story there is a first acquaintance with the character: the author specifies his name and the names of the other people. The following 3 lines should tell the story of the curious case of the life of a person. The fifth shows the public reaction to the event. The first and the last lines must end the same way. Limerick usually has the rhyme scheme AABBA.

3.For he said, 'To eat mice, short lines 4. Is not proper or nice‘ a person a place 1.There was an old man of Dumbree, 2.Who taught little owls to drink tea; 3.For he said, 'To eat mice, short lines 4. Is not proper or nice‘ 5.That amiable man of Dumbree. 1-A 2 – A 3 – B 4 – B 5 - A

The was an old man from Peru Who dreamt he was eating his shoe He awoke in the night In a terrible fright And found it was perfectly true Жил – был в Китае чудак Который во сне ел башмак Он ночью проснулся И ужаснулся Что это именно так

Limericks are translated into many languages Limericks are translated into many languages. Widely known translations of the limericks made by V. Orlov, S.Satin, O. Astafieva and others. But the best interpreter of the English poems of nonsense in Russia is Samuil Marshak. He was born in 1887 in Voronezh. He loved poetry very much and at the age of four he tried to write them, and at 11 he began to translate Roman poet Horace. The secret of his translation of limericks is to preserve the rhyme, poetical size of poems and not to lose a humorous character of them.

Marshak`s translation of the limerick : There was a young lady of Niger Who smiled as she rode on a tiger They returned from the ride With the Lady inside And the smile on the face of the tiger Улыбались три смелых девицы На спине у бенгальской тигрицы Теперь же все три – У тигрицы внутри , А улыбка на морде тигрицы

Such writers as G. Oster, K. Chukovsky, B. Zakhoder , D Such writers as G.Oster, K.Chukovsky, B. Zakhoder , D. Kharms are also considered to be the outstanding representatives of the similar genre of literature, as the poems of nonsense , limericks and a word-play. G. Oster K. Chukovsky B. Zakhoder D. Kharms

Conclusion 1) We can conclude that a limerick is a literary genre that emerged in the 18th century and still popular today. The limerick has it’s own characteristics which make this genre unique and different from all others, strictly fixed rhyme, 5 lines, etc. 2) In this research I analyzed the limericks in the English language and their translations into Russian. 3) It seemed interesting, so we decided to make our own translation, illustration and resent it to you.

List of literature and sources Епанчинцева О.Ю. История появления лимериков. 2010 Цыдендоржиев С.В. Английские лимерики в моих переводах./ ПрофиСтарт,2009 Детские стихи, «Узорчатая поэзия», лимерик на уроках английского языка/ DoMy English.Ru https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Лир,_Эдвард http://lir.ramot.ru/limeriki.htm http://www.miloliza.com/marshak.html