Dear Jon, I agree that ideally a limerick should have some pun or surprise in the last line, yet surprisingly that is not the case with many of the limericks of Edward Lear. Lear was not the first to write limericks, but it was he who made them popular. He would often have the fifth line virtually the same as the first, for example:
There was an old person of Sheen Whose expression was calm and serene. He sat in the water And drank bottled porter, That placid old person of Sheen. That might seem a bit weak, but it has a certain nonsensical charm all the same. Nowadays, as you say, limericks tend have something special or witty in the last line. One of my favourites, relevant to the recent discussion about scanning, is the following: There was a young man from Japan, Whose poetry just didn't scan. When asked why it was, He said, "It's because I always to try to get as many words into the last line as I possibly can." Anyway, here's one for you, which I hope you will enjoy: There once was a harpist called Jon, Who reputedly harped on and on. He didn't expect yer To hear out his lecture. Before he got going, you'd gone. :-) Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Murphy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Roman Turovsky" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2004 6:35 AM Subject: Re: lute limericks > > > You may not be aware of this, but the russophone limerick culture is > larger > > than the anglophone, and it is almost as old, althogh it really started > > blossoming in the 70's. > > Russian, unlike English, is an easily rhyming language, so the rules of > the > > limericks in the former are more extensive and limiting. > > RT > > I assume that the Russophone limerick culture came from the "auld sod" (or > would that be "auld tundra"?). Is County Limerick closer to Moscva or St. > Petersburg? And I question whether Russian is an easier rhyming language > than English, after all we have to do is pronounce the word a different way. > English is a mishmosh of languages, and therefore has "a mess" of synonyms, > homonyms and antonyms. "I worsted him" and "I bested him" both mean the > same, "I beat him", although "best" and "worst" have opposite meanings. I > could go on with homonyms and synonyms as well, ad nauseum, but I'm sure the > list will be glad that I don't. > > As to the rules, part of the fun is the rules. there should be a pun or a > surprise in the final line. A limerick isn't just a pattern or meter. > > Best, Jon
