1. It's a five line poem.
2. Establish the rhythm.
3. Lines 1, 2, & 5 share rhythm and rhyme patterns.
4. Lines 3 & 4 share rhythm and rhyme patterns.
5. Think of limerick structure like a joke.
6. Establish a main character.
7. Put the character in a situation.
8. Run the situation out of control.
9. Resolve with a punchline.

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• by Jenny Hudock

• There once was a man from Nantucket...
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• We all know a poem that starts out this way. Chances are you learned it back in elementary school on the playground, the hushed whisper of perversity that quickly turned into a laugh-riot. Believe it or not, the popular five lines of limericks haven't always had a bawdy reputation. The form's earliest roots can be found in 13th Century Italy, in the divine prayer of the Catholic priest, scholar and philosopher, Thomas Aquinas. But the form quickly grew in popularity. Both William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I of England were rumored to have written in limerick form as well, though both Shakespeare and the Queen's verse probably held a slightly more humorous tone than that of Thomas Aquinas.
• The limerick form was often used in nursery rhymes, which made use of the poem's humor and simplicity. It was these traits that made them a favored poetic vice among beggars and working class tavern-dwellers, especially when the poems turned dirty and sexual in nature.
• Don't worry, you can write clean limericks too, particularly if you'll be writing this poem for a classroom assignment. Read on to learn how!

• The limerick has a very distinct set of rules it follows for both rhythm and rhyme. With only five lines to work with in the entire poem, such a rule can make for difficult word maneuvering.

• Rhythm is established in poetry by meter, or the way the stress patterns falls on word syllables. There are two established rhythms in the limerick:

1. Lines 1, 2 and 5 contain 7 to 10 syllables that follow the stress pattern da-DA da-da-DA da-da-DA da.
2. Lines 3 and 4 contain between 5 to 7 syllables each and follow a da-DA da-da-DA da stress pattern.

• Rhyme is a fun way to make a poem sound catchy. In the limerick it also offers a sing-song quality to the words. The overall rhyme pattern will be AABBA.

1. Lines 1, 2 and 5 share an end rhyme.
2. Lines 3 and 4 share an end rhyme.

• When you put the rhythm and rhyme together, it'll look a little something like this:

• There WAS an old MAN down in PRAGUE (A)
• whose WIFE ran aWAY with a DOG. (A)
• He CRIED all night AND day, (B)
• a PAthetic DISplay, (B)
• while DROWNing himSELF in the GROG. (A)

• Note that the stressed syllables are bold and in all capitals. You can hear the way it sounds when you read it out loud. The rhyme pattern has been added in parenthesis at the end of each line, and as you read over it you can hear it as well.

• The neat thing about limericks is that they tell a story about someone. It may not always be a pleasant story, but the over-dramatized misery or extremity of the situation is often part of what makes the limerick funny. In essence, writing a limerick rhyme by rhyme is like setting a joke up for its punchline. There once was a man down in Prague whose wife ran away with a dog... You know this absurd scenario has to end badly, but it's so outlandish you can't help but laugh.

• Before you begin writing your limerick, you'll want to take some time to figure out a couple of important factors. You only have five lines in which to tell this story, so let's break it down line by line.

1. In the first line you'll want to introduce your main character and setting. In the example poem we have a man down in Prague. Remember the more zany the setting, the funnier the limerick will be.
2. Come up with a list of words that rhyme with your end word in line one. Our situation was that his wife ran away with a dog.
3. You want establish your main character's situation in line two.
4. Line three and four are the perfect place to show how the character's situation went out of control. Our poor man was crying and making a real pathetic display of things.
5. Line five is the punchline! This is where you resolve the story and bring it to a close. The man couldn't cope with it, so he fell into a bottle.

• Here are a few writing tips to keep in mind while crafting your limerick.

1. Find yourself a good rhyming dictionary, you're going to need it!
2. Have fun with names and locations. You can use cities, countries, states, planets, whatever you like, just so long as it lends humor to your limerick.
3. Avoid words and places that are impossible to rhyme with.
4. Puns and word-play are fantastic tools to help you turn on the humor.
5. Because of the lewd and bawdy nature of the limerick, don't be afraid to write about anything.
6. Get creative with the scenario. The more creative and outrageous things seem, the more laugh appeal they hold.
7. Once you know the basic structure, branch out and use tools like assonance, alliteration and internal rhyme to really add some absurdity to the poem.
8. Make sure the punchline or end-note adds a nice twist to the plot.

• As you can see the limerick is a challenge when you strip it down to structure, meter and rhyme patterns, but it's a challenge many gladly step up to. Some because any learning experience leads to broader horizons, and others because they simply enjoy a good laugh.
• Limericks were simply made for sharing and laughing over with friends, so once you've got a few that make you giggle, don't be afraid to try them out on your friends. Remember to share your bawdier poems with appropriate company, as not everyone appreciates the finely crafted punch-line of a steamy limerick.
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• Academy of American Poets: Poetic Form: Limerick
• eHow: How to Write a Limerick
• Famous Poetry Online: Limericks
• Giggle Poetry: How to Write a Limerick
• How2Blogger: How to Write a Limerick (January 15, 2008)
• Kansas City, Kansas Public Library: How to Write a Limerick
• RhymeZone: Rhyming Dictionary
• White Oak Press: Limericks and How to Write a Limerick
• WikiHow: How to Write a Limerick
• Wikipedia: Limerick
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