A limerick is a five-line poem with a strict meter, popularized by Edward Lear. The rhyme scheme is usually aabba. The first, second, and fifth lines are three metrical feet (9 syllables); the third and fourth are two metrical feet (One metrical foot is equal to 3 syllables; the line pattern goes 9-9-6-6-9). The foot used is usually the amphibrach, a stressed syllable between two unstressed ones. However, many substitutions are common, notably the anapestic foot, two short syllables and then a long (the reverse of dactyl rhythm).

The first line traditionally introduces a person and a location, and usually ends with the name of the location, though sometimes with that of the person. A true limerick is supposed to have a kind of twist to it. This may lie in the final line, or it may lie in the way the rhymes are often intentionally tortured, or in both. Though not a strict requirement, many limericks additionally show some form of internal rhyme, often alliteration, sometimes assonance or another form of rhyme. In early limericks, the last line often essentially repeated the first, though that is no longer customary.

A dirty limerick is a limerick that is obscene, almost always with humorous intent.

The origin of the actual word limerick is obscure, thought it's generally taken to be a reference to the city of Limerick, Ireland in Ireland. The usage in reference to this type of poem was first known to be documented in England in 1898 (New English Dictionary) and in America in 1902.^[1] The name is often linked to an earlier form of nonsense verse which was traditionally followed by the refrain that ended "…come all the way up to Limerick?", referring to Limerick, Ireland. That the older refrain does not match the meter of the limerick has been used to attack this theory. A point in favour, however, is the fact that in other languages, limericks are indeed sung, with wordless (la-la) refrains between them that match a version of this text.

Other examples can be discovered from the 19th century. The first book of limericks, though they were not yet named thus, is The History of Sixteen Wonderful Old Women (1820), followed by the Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Gentlemen (1822). But the form was popularized by Edward Lear, who has been grandiloquently dubbed "The Poet Laureate of the Limerick", in his A Book of Nonsense (1845) and a later work (1872) on the same theme. In all Lear wrote 212 limericks, mostly aimed towards nonsense. In his time limericks accompanied an illustration on the same subject, and the final line of the limerick was a kind of conclusion, which usually was a variant of the first, ending in the same word. This is different from the punchline or twist of the modern limerick, that usually has a proper rhyme. Since Lear's limericks are the best-known examples of the classical limerick, and since these poems were not yet called "Limericks", some have retroactively named them Learics, as they are not true limericks in the modern sense of the word. An example:

There was a Young Person of Smyrna

Whose grandmother threatened to burn her;

But she seized on the cat, and said, 'Granny, burn that!

You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!'

(Lear's limericks were often typeset in three lines or four lines.)

Limericks have been sung as a traditional humorous drinking song with mostly obscene verses. The song is found under the titles "In China They Never Eat Chili", "Sing Us Another One", "Ya-Ya", "Rodriguez the Mexican Pervert" and "Aye-Yi-Yi-Yi". The tune most commonly used for sung limericks is "The Gay Caballero".

The Limerick Song has been commercially recorded many times. The earliest version of limericks being sung is 1905 under the title "Fol-The-Rol-Lol" Audio file "fol_the_rol_lol___edward_m_favor___1905___edison_9142.ogg" not found as sung by Edward M. Favor on Edison records. The earliest date for limericks being sung to the "Gay Caballero" tune is May 11, 1931 on the recording titled "Rhymes" sung by Jack Hylton and issued on Decca records.

The earliest printed date for limericks being sung is 1928 in the book A Collection of Sea Songs and Ditties from the Stores of Dave E. Jones.^[2] Since many of the verses used for this song are bawdy the song tended to get issued in rare, underground mimeographed songbooks. Some of these are (in chronological order):

• 1934. Leech, Clifford. Bottoms Up!.^[3]

There are several different choruses for this song. One of the most popular in the USA is sung to the tune of "Cielito Lindo" and usually goes like this:

I-Yi-Yi-Yi,

In China, they never eat chili

So here comes another verse worse than the other verse

So waltz me around again, Willie.^[4]

Another chorus, to an unknown tune, is not uncommon in the UK:

That was a cute little rhyme

Sing us another one, do--oo--^[5]

A less commonly reported chorus goes:

Sweet Violets, sweeter than all the roses,

Covered all over from head to toe,

Covered all over with^[6]

Indecent subjects are a recurring theme of many limericks though the less innocent limericks are often considered among the best and the most common. Creating new limericks is a popular "drinking game" amongst English-speaking sailors,^{[citation needed]} and as such, those with a ribald theme can be the most amusing.

The archetypal "man from Nantucket" is also a recurring theme in limericks. This literary trope can be attributed to the many whalers who once lived on Nantucket and the popularity of the limerick genre in whaling culture. More typically the "man from Nantucket" limericks portray him as a sexually perverse and hypersexual persona. It has thus been suggested that the popularity of "Nantucket" in limericks stems from the possibility to rhyme it with a number of obscenities.^{[citation needed]}

The idiosyncratic link between spelling and pronunciation in the English language is also explored in this Scottish example. Bear in mind that the name 'Menzies' is pronounced /ˈmɪŋɪs/:

A lively young damsel named Menzies

Inquired: "Do you know what this thenzies?"

Her aunt, with a gasp,

Replied: "It's a wasp,

And you're holding the end where the stenzies."^{[citation needed]}

There are also limericks that imitate the style/character(of writing, of talking.etc.) of the people(usually well-known people like authors, poets.etc.) they are referring to. For example:

The great English poet, John Donne,

Was wont to admonish the Sunne,

"You busie old foole,

lie still and keep coole,

For I am in bed, having funne."^{[citation needed]}

The following example is taken from The Pearl, which published limericks under the label 'Nursery Rhymes'.

There was a young man from Peru,

Who had nothing whatever to do;

So he took out his carrot

And buggered his parrot,

And sent the result to the zoo.^[7]

==The influence of politics on limericks in the USA

There are competing poetry web sites and authors who express their points of view with limericks. This example is taken from rightwinglimericks.com and is written by Al Bienstock:

This bumper sticker seems right to me

I’d much rather hunt with our VP

(With no trepidation

And no consternation)

Than go driving with Ted KennedyCite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Or in English

if i equals t squared plus e

and e equals fourteen plus three

then i is greater than pi

and e is greater than i

and e divides pi by i four t ^[8]

The last line being read as "and he divides pie by I for tea."

Pi (π) poem By: Alex Lee

if π x d= circumference

d is 2 and c is 6

6 over 2 is π

π = 3.1415

.·. 3.14(2)is 6

Other examples of this style of limerick have been written by Elliott Moreton and play with ideas of censorship and copyright. ^[9]

Although limericks have been written in a great number of different languages, many of these suffer from the fact that the meter of the limerick does not adapt well to such languages as, for example, French. Good limericks can be written in languages that have a similar natural rhythm to English.

A French example, from 1716:

On s'étonne ici que Caliste

Ait pris l'habit de Moliniste

Puisque cette jeune beauté

Ote à chacun sa liberté

N'est-ce pas une Janseniste?^[10]

And another French example:

Y avait un jeune homme de Dijon

Qui se foutait de toute religion.

Il a dit, "Quant à moi,

Je déteste les trois:

Le Père, et le Fils, et le Pigeon."^{[citation needed]}

The dodoitsu is a short sometimes comic Japanese poem known as a Japanese limerick.^{[citation needed]}

• Clerihew
• Dixon Lanier Merritt's famous limerick about pelicans
• Rapping

Lists of Limericks:

• The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form (OEDILF)
• Limericks by famous people
• A Limerick A Day
• DeepThought LimericksA collection of limericks submitted and rated by the public
• Newsmericks News & Views in limerick form

Website dedicated to The Pearl: The Pearl online

Books available from Gutenberg:

• A book of nonsense

Limerick techniques and analysis:

• Limerick Definition and Techniques

Limerick Bibliographies:

• Deex, Arthur. A link to Arthur Deex's comprehensive annotated Limerick Bibliography

• Dilcher, Karl The Karl Dilcher bibliography of limerick books.

• Cray, Ed. The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs (University of Illinois, 1992).
• "Jones, Dave E." A Collection of Sea Songs and Ditties from the Stores of Dave E. Jones. No publisher. No date (1928). Unpaginated.
• Legman, Gershon. The Limerick.
• Legman, Gershon. The Horn Book. (New York: University Press, 1964).
• Reuss, Richard A. An Annotated Field Collection of Songs From the American College Student Oral Tradition (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Masters Thesis, 1965).