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Writing A Limerick -Gabriel

Writing A Limerick
(The Second hardest version of poetry behind Sestina and it is followed by Sonnets and then Haiku poem in the next chapters. Sestina Chapter is already out.)

Before Beginning

Before writing poetry, you should familiarize yourself with some useful terms. This will help you move through the different forms smoothly.

First of all, when we speak about a poem's rhyming pattern, we refer to its rhyme scheme. This is signified by designating a different letter for each rhyme.
Take, for example, the following lines from Edwin Arlington Robinson's, "Richard Cory."

Whenever Richard Cory went down town, (A)
We people on the pavement looked at him: (B)
He was a gentleman from sole to crown, (A)
Clean favored, and imperially slim. (B)

If another rhyme is introduced, it would be signified by the letter 'C!'

We will also refer to line length, or the amount of syllables per line. Many fixed-forms contain ten syllables per line, while the amount varies in others.

Stanzas are the units of lines in the poem. They are like paragraphs.

Limericks
More than any other form of poetry, limericks lend themselves to humor. The rhyme scheme and line length create a cadence that's easy to follow and fun to write. Read the following limerick aloud. Does the form seem familiar? Do you notice the cadence?

There once was a man from Mars (A)
Who owned three thousand cars. (A)
He wanted five more, (B)
But when he drove to the store (B)
He lost his cars in the stars. (A)

The rhyme scheme is simple: a, a, b, b, a. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have about the same number of syllables, usually between 7 and 9. Lines 3 and 4 are shorter, usually between 5-7 syllables.

Writing Exercise Prompt 1.
Write three limericks. Read them to your classmates.

Writing Exercise Prompt 2.
Group limericks are very entertaining. Simply pass a piece of paper around, taking turns adding lines to a limerick.