Types of Poetry 1: The Limerick

Have you ever written a poem? There are many ways to start. You can begin by just writing whatever comes to mind. You can pick out a type of poetry or poem structure and follow those guidelines, or you can invent a whole new style yourself.

I used to be the type of person who didn’t understand why you would write in a particular structure such as a villanelle or a haiku. Wouldn’t that be restrictive to stick to a certain style? It wasn’t until my undergrad years in a poetry workshop class where I learned that using different structures just helps to frame what you are working on and in a way, inspires and challenges your writing to blossom even more, compared to just freely writing a poem in freeform.

To celebrate the many ways you can write a poem, let’s learn about Limericks.

Poetry Lingo

Stanza: A set of lines in one paragraph of a poem.

Line: One line or sentence (sometimes) in a stanza.

Rhyme Scheme: Dictates which lines in a structure rhyme with each other. Represented by letters i.e., ABAB. A rhymes with A, B rhymes with B.

Meter: Rhyme count based on syllables.

Poetry Style: The Limerick

What is a Limerick: Limerick poems are humorous pieces with origins back in the 19th century.

Structure

As you will see in this series, poems often have a rhyme scheme that is spelled out by letters. A Limerick has one stanza and has the rhyme scheme of AABBA. Each letter represents a line so line 1, 2, and 5 in one stanza rhyme. Three lines are long and two are short as well. Fun fact: You can duplicate the word that ends in line 1 as well as line 5. This is popular in this structure.

Style: Short and punchy, these usually tell a tale that may be funny, trivial, crude, or just plain silly.

Example 1: Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense (1846)

Line 1: There was an Old Man with a beard,

Line 2: Who said, "It is just as I feared!—

Line 3: Two Owls and a Hen,

Line 4: four Larks and a Wren,

Line 5: Have all built their nests in my beard.

As you can see, line 1, 2, and 5 all rhyme or repeat: “Beard,” “feared,” and “beard.”

Line 1, 2, and 5 are also the 3 long lines in the structure. The two short lines, line 3 and 4 also rhyme.

Keeping these structure rules in mind, read two more examples and look out for what rhymes, what lines are short or long, and more to understand the poem structure.

Example 2: Dixon Lanier Merritt, “A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican.”

A wonderful bird is the pelican,

His bill holds more than his belican.

He can take in his beak

Enough food for a week,

But I’m damned if I see how the helican.

Example 3: Leigh Mercer

A dozen, a gross, and a score

Plus three times the square root of four

Divided by seven

Plus five times eleven

Is nine squared and not a bit more.

How to Write a Limerick

When writing any kind of poem, it’s important to pick a topic. If you sit down and say, “I’m going to write a poem,” and then stare at the paper, that is really hard! It’s difficult because you have millions of possibilities in front of you. If you pick a topic or one single thing to write about, that will help to narrow your focus.

If you are new to poetry and writing, I always suggest to pick something simple! You may want to write about big ideas from emotions to big events, love, and more. Those big ideas are easy to fall into cliches if you are not used to working with the topic. (Cliches are not inherently bad, but they will make your work sound unoriginal.)

For practice, I recommend picking something near you and writing about it. I am not good at poetry, but I am always trying! To write an example for you, I will pick an item near me.

How to Write a Limerick Example

Pick Your Topic: Ficus Plant

Notes and details: Ficus plants are known to be an air-filtering plant, to be helpful in giving you fresh air, even at a small amount. It is a large plant in a pot. Has green leaves. In a plastic brown pot, a terra-cotta mimic. Sits in a pool of sunlight. In an otherwise dark apartment.

Structure: 5 lines, 3 long, 2 short, AABBA

Style: Comedy, crude, or satirical

Here is my attempt at a limerick:

Apartment Plant

LINE 1: My ficus, you sit in the sun

LINE 2: purifying putrid air like none

LINE 3: twenty green leaves

LINE 4: a plastic mimicry

LINE 5: I wish you did better, you bum.

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s silly! It’s dumb! But that’s okay because I did it and at least attempted it.

Up next…

Can you give it a try?

Pick something nearby

An item boring

An idea soaring

Share with us below—buh’bye!