E is for English Poetry…Just Kidding #AtoZChallenge

Posted on by Barbed Words

I could examine the beauty and complexities of the great English poets, such as William Wordsworth, John Keats or Pam Ayres, but I don’t really enjoy poetry so I’m not going to.

However, I do like the odd limerick, the ruder and sillier the better.  And the form is English so it still counts as English poetry.  In my opinion.

The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

Edward Lear popularised the limerick in his 1846 Book of Nonsense, such as the one below:

There was an Old Man with a gong,
Who bumped at it all day long;
But they called out, ‘O law!
You’re a horrid old bore!’
So they smashed that Old Man with a gong.

Here’s my quick attempt:

 

There was a young man from England
Who played lead trumpet in a brass band.
His lips were so strong
And his fingers most long
That with the ladies he was aways in demand.

Anyone else a fan of the limerick?

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8 thoughts on “E is for English Poetry…Just Kidding #AtoZChallenge”

  3. Hah! When I was in Grade 8 I wrote a limerick about every student in the class. Yeah – that kid. They got included in our informal yearbook and were meant in good fun and mostly taken that way. I still remember one: “Theresa is in class 8-3. / She sits right in front of me. / She tells us all tales. / At the speed of slow snails. / That’s why we’re all sleeping, you see.”

    So yes, I’m a fan.

    For what it’s worth, I also have a soft spot for Wordsworth. I love the idea of Spots in Time.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Great limerick! We didn’t study poetry when I was at school, that’s probably why I don’t like it, I don’t understand it! Having looked up Wordsworth’s Spots in Time, I can see the attraction 🙂

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