Learning Limericks and their Origin What’s a Limerick? Learning Limericks and their Origin

Limericks in History… The limerick is a form of poetry that first appeared in the early 1800s. Edward Lear first published limericks in A Book of Nonsense in 1846. Lear was an English artist, illustrator and poet. He is known for first making the limerick popular.

Lear wrote 212 limericks, mostly in nonsense verse with silly illustrations. Limericks are supposed to be funny and to be remembered! Limericks- when you write your limericks don’t forget they have to be a) silly b) illustrated (just like Lear)

Why are they called Limericks? Let’s read on page 563, under Build Background to learn more about how limericks got their name! Why are they called Limericks?

Limerick- a form of nonsense verse Limerick- a form of nonsense verse. A typical limerick has five lines and follows the rhyme scheme aabba. Like other forms of poetry limericks are meant to be read aloud. Define a limerick.

Write your own Limerick! The Laughing Limerick website shows that “most (but not all) limericks begin with the phrase "There once was a __________ from ________." or "There was a ________ _____________ from _________.“

A Limerick pattern to follow: Line 1: Tell who the person is and where he or she is from Line 2: Describe the person or tell something interesting about him or her Line 3 & 4: Give more interesting detail about what was mentioned in line two Line 5: Based on the first four lines, finish off the limerick with a surprising and/or funny ending The rhyme scheme or rhyme pattern is AABBA.

Rhyme scheme or pattern: Example Limerick: There once was a girl from Troy A She would always try to annoy A She looked like a moose B She laughed like a goose B Her silliness always caught a boy A