Beginner's Guide To Limericks - Page 3
by P. Robertshaw
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A bride from Peru Exclaimed “What shall I do? I haven’t got anything Borrowed or blue!

There are little toads
From Rhodes that leap and then weep
When they land on roads

This example has the obvious weakness of a repetition of the same sound, but is an adequate illustration of the point.

1 A double one now, that is tricky
2 It requires such a great deal of thought
1 You cannot afford to be picky
2 Or your valiant plans come to nought
1 So plan them ahead
1 And you’ll know what is said
2 When you come to this point
2 And your mind’s out of joint
1 When the situation becomes sticky
2 You can’t say you haven’t been taught!

The numbers are purely for explanation purposes. Note that the story progresses naturally from beginning to end, and observe where the rhyming scheme comes in. This is actually an unusual example in that if you separate the two limericks within it, both make perfect sense on their own! This is not a requirement, but a lucky accident in this case – and certainly a challenge!

A grower of snips that were par
Had a very strange den that was gar
His ments that were orna
Held ments that were tourna
To eat the most rots that were car!

Note that one word in each line is ‘beheaded’, and it is these ‘heads’ that rhyme. A translation of the above would be:

A grower of parsnips
Had a very strange garden
His ornaments
Held tournaments
To eat the most carrots!

This obviously does not work as a limerick itself. The beheaded limerick is a difficult form to write.
 
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