Limericks

The limerick is a vastly underrated art form in part, because the genre is often bawdy and occasionally downright obscene. But there is something about the form which is appropriate to nonsense, bawdiness, and wit. A skillfully composed limerick tends to be particularly appealing when it manages to offend more than one sort of propriety.

One of Samuel Butler's Erewhonian ‘Sunchild Sayings’ is: “When the righteous man turneth away from the righteousness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is a little naughty and wrong, he will generally be found to have gained in amiability what he has lost in righteousness.” Translation: Lighten up and you'll loosen up.

A successful limerick spans the three genres of poetry, combining narrative and drama using a distinctly lyrical form. The alternative qualities of the limerick are wit and fantasy. Limerick is to poetry what caricature is to graphic art.

One thing is certain, a limerick is nothing if it is not either clever or funny. A limerick is like a platypus—difficult to explain but hard to miss. It covers a vast range of subject matter, is capable of considerable flexibility in meter, and is noted for its marvelous ingenuity of rhyming. Part of the charm of the limerick is the surprise, the sudden swoop and unexpected twist of the last line.

Writing limericks is fun. It challenges mind and muse, rhythm and rhyme, wit and waggery. When a limerick comes together—well, it’s great. [And it’s also good for impressing dates.]
Larry of Fair Londonderry