shankar kashyap

Limerick is a five-line witty poem with a distinctive rhythm, funny and often rude. Named after the Irish town of Limerick, the poem allegedly got its name from the town custom of shouting “Will you come up to Limerick?” after a performance of nonsense poetry at social gatherings. It was introduced in 1791 in Ireland. The noble and often a staid stature of an epic or ballad could not be more at odds with the ‘nonsense verse’ of the Limerick.

The limerick is a brief and bouncy poem ideal for Mother Goose-style nursery rhymes. Most of the limerick’s were simple and filled with fun. Not many were constructed with any serious message of note.  Serious poets dismiss this format as not a true poem and describe it as a “periodic fad object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity”!  But hose poets who do compose Limericks feel that this violation of taboo is a function of Limerick.
Rhyme Structure; The first, second and fifth lines (the longer lines) rhyme and the third and fourth shorter lines rhyme. (A-A-B-B-A). First line is often repeated as the fifth line.   The long lines are made up of three “feet” or iambic and the shorter ones are made up of just two feet of syllables.  The first line introduces the place or the object or person.  Often the first line is repeated as the last line as a refrain.

Limericks was popularised in 19th century by Edward Lear. It went through a period where they were considered obscene and looked down by the literati as folklore and not literature.

Edward Lear, a musician, poet and illustrator of 19th century,  published a series of ‘Nonsense’ limerick compositions during the middle of 19th century. This is one of the few, often quoted from his “Book of Nonsense.”

There was a Young Person of Smyrna
Whose grandmother threatened to burn her.
But she seized on the cat,
and said ‘Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!

As you can see, this does not offer any message or wit. In fact, apart from the rhyming structure which makes it more than adequate for singing it doesn’t really mean anything.   Often Limerick was published along with caricatures;

Here is my take on a Limerick on a glass of wine;

Glass of wine

The red nectar that flows out of a carafe
That which imbues the flavour of life
I long for a glass of wine
I thirst for a glass of wine
It is the one that makes my eyes shine!

Shankar Kashyap

There was once a lass called Caitlin

There once was a lass who liked wine.
She said, “See the lovely baseline!”
It was rather more,
But not very yore,
She couldn’t say no to the sideline

Shankar Kashyap