>> I take extreme umbrage at this: I am usually extremely attentive to the # of >> syllables per line. > > I didn't say syllables, I said beats. There's a great difference between > the number of syllables and the meter of a limerick especially when you use > contractions. Attend to the corrections I make to your attempt below; > >> A fellow named Craig Allen > A fellow whose name was Craig Allen Sounds terribly off-meter to me.
>> sat under a tree, rather sullen. >> He lost a contest >> in Basel's lute-fest, > > These lines scan well within the metric structure of a limerick. > >> Can't even show his face in St. Galen. > Now can't show his face in St. Galen. > > Notice how the first, second and fifth lines all match metrically? When > writing poetry it's very important to pay close attention to the meter of > the given style. Explore the iambic pentameter of Shakespeare's sonnets, or > the terza rima of Dante, or a Japanese haiku. While a limerick may. to > some, fall into the "country music" (to borrow from an unrelated thread > here) category of poetry it still has proper metric conventions which must > be adhered to. Poetry, when done well, can be verbal music. > > A fellow named Roman, one night > Thought his limericks quite erudite > But he failed in the meter > His lim'ricks did peter > And gave everyone quite a fright > Craig OK. You win. From now on you may contribute to http://polyhymnion.org/lit.html RT
