Beginner's Guide To Limericks - Page 2
by P. Robertshaw
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Said King Arthur to Queen Guinevere
“You must tread very carefully, dear
I wish you would not
Hunt with Sir Lancelot
The man cannot shoot straight, I fear”

This is a clean version!

As shown above, the stress should generally be laid as follows:

Da-da-dum-da-da-dum-da-da-dum
Da-da-dum-da-da-dum-da-da-dum
Da-dum-da-da-dum
Da-da-dum-da-da-dum
Da-da-dum-da-da-dum-da-da-dum

This may vary slightly from limerick to limerick, depending on the words used, but should be a reasonable starting point to work from.

For those who like technical language, this kind of rhythm is known as anapaestic, with two short beats and one long. A general statement would be that lines one, two and five have nine ‘beats’ while lines three and four have six. But as the above example shows, this is not strict. Slight variations are possible which can still maintain the correct rhythm.

Generally, the best limericks set the scene in the first two lines, build upon it in lines three and four, and finish with a humorous final line. The more unexpected this is the better, though it must obviously follow on logically in the story. Excellent limericks have been written using unusual rhymes. But the rhyme must be exact, or as close to it as possible, for the limerick to work. It occasionally requires a slightly contrived idea, but the following example shows that it can be done:

The drummer in my band, the beat setter Has a goat that continually bleats at ‘er But her sheep are far worse They are experts in verse And always quote Byron and Keats at ‘er

Some limericks play on the curiosities of English pronunciation for their rhyme:

Wednesday Addams’ first visit to Leicester Was one that truly impreicester But a day trip to Worcester Left her in a florcester And she never did take Uncle Feicester