>> 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



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