And just to show that limericks aren’t all giggles:
A trio was playing the blues
When she told me, “I have to refuse.”
I swayed with the band
As I stared at my hand,
And the tickets I never would use.
And just to show that limericks aren’t all giggles:
A trio was playing the blues
When she told me, “I have to refuse.”
I swayed with the band
As I stared at my hand,
And the tickets I never would use.
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There were a couple of limericks in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties that I really like. The topic was James Joyce. The first was:
An impromptu poet from Hybernia
Rhymed himself into a hernia
He became quite adept
At the practice, except
For occasional anti-climaxes
The second was:
When I want to leave things in the air
I say “Excuse me, I’ve got to repair
“To my book about Bloom”
And I just leave the room
I like those, Nigel, and Lars, yours is great. Are the books of good limericks in print? I mean, good limericks like these.
Great stuff, Nigel. Love those.
Phil: I have no idea.
I looked it up, and most of the books are dirty. I did read an excerpt of a self-published book from a liberal bashing George W. Bush. His topic was bad, but his limericks were good.
I remember reading Edward Lear as a child. I see that Amazon has a book of his poems He used to be pretty funny, and if they were dirty, I didn’t notice at the time.
Lear’s considered a classic but, as mentioned above, in my view his repeat “rhyming” spoils the whole game.
I guess it wasn’t mentioned “above,” but in the comments on the previous post.
I don’t think any of Lear’s are dirty (I don’t know really), but when I searched for books of limericks, the dirty ones came up first, and I guess that makes sense.
I might suggest this old book, What Cheer, ed. by David McCord. Limericks are only one chapter in it, but there’s a lot of good stuff beyond that. I grew up with this book, and still have a number of the poems by heart.
I agree with you guys. Anyone can write dirty limericks but the best ones are either very clever or sweet.
You’re right, Lyle. There’s nothing more fun than a really clever limerick, but most people only know the dirty ones.