PROBLEM: Is there any sense in poems of nonsense?

WHAT IS A “LIMERICK”?

A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense verse with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA).

There was an Old Man of Peru, Who dreamt he was eating his shoe. He awoke in the night In a terrible fright And found it was perfectly true!

THE RHYME SCHEME OF LIMERICKS.

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme.

Bid me to weep, and I will weep A While I have eyes to see; B And having none, and yet I will keep A A heart to weep for thee. B There was a Young Lady of Niger, A Who smiled as she rode on a tiger; A They returned from the ride B With the Lady inside, B And the smile on the face of the tigerA

The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three feet of three syllables each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables.

Example: There was a clever old miser who tries Every method to e-co-no-mize. He said with a wink "I save gallons of ink By simply not dotting my i's"

THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME

EDWARD LEAR

Born - 12 May 1812 Holloway, Middlesex, UK Died - 29 January 1888 (aged 75)Sanremo, Liguria, Italy Occupation - Illustrator, Writer (poet) Nationality - British Ethnicity - White British Citizenship - British, Italian Period - 19th century Genres - Children's literature Literary movement - Literary nonsense

VARIATIONS

A flea and a fly in a flue, Were trapped and knew not what to do, 'Let us flee', said the fly, 'Let us fly', said the flea, So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

There was a young man from Japan Whose limericks never would scan. When asked why this was, He replied "It's because I always try to fit as many syllables into the last line as ever I possibly can."

There once was a man from the sticks Who liked to compose limericks. But he failed at the sport, For he wrote 'em too short.

There was an old man with a beard, A funny old man with a beard He had a big beard A great big old beard That amusing old man with a beard.

LIMERICKS FOR PHONETIC PRACTICE

That mad actor, Max Hackney-Pratts Gathered masses and masses of hats, Kept a set in his bed, Twenty-seven on his head And the balance on black plastic mats.

Benjamin Gregory Berry Never drinks red wine or sherry But giving him whisky Is a little bit risky: He tends to get terribly merry!

Is there any sense in poems of nonsense?

POETRY WORKSHOP