Limericks, like all poetic forms, have a set of rules that you need to follow. The rules for a limerick are fairly simple:
They are five lines long. Lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other. They have a distinctive rhythm and they are usually funny.
Rhyming a Limerick
The rhyme scheme of a limerick is known as “AABBA.” This is because the last words in lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme. Those are the “A’s” in the rhyme scheme. The “B’s” are the last words of lines 3 and 4.
Limerick Rhythm
The rhythm of the limerick goes by the complicated name “anapaestic,” What you need to notice when you read or recite a limerick is that the first two lines and the last line have three “beats” in them, while the third and fourth lines have two “beats.” In other words, the rhythm of a limerick looks like this:
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM
The rhythm doesn’t have to exactly match this, but it needs to be close enough that it sounds the same when you read it.
Here are two examples of limericks we wrote:
There once was a pig named Bob,
Who decided he wanted a job,
He used to play tip,
But that changed when he tripped
Which led him to hysterically sob.
There once was a girl named jan,
Who got hit on the head with a pan,
Her brother was watching
He found it very shocking
Especially when she drove off in a van.
