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==Form== |
==Form== |
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The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three [[Foot (prosody)|feet]] of three [[syllables]] each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The defining "foot" of a limerick's meter is usually the [[anapaest]], (''ta-ta-TUM''), but limericks can also be considered [[amphibrach]]ic (''ta-TUM-ta''){{Dubious|date=August 2011}}. |
The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three [[Foot (prosody)|feet]] of three [[syllables]] each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The defining "foot" of a limerick's meter is usually the [[anapaest]], (''ta-ta-TUM''), but limericks can also be considered [[amphibrach]]ic (''ta-TUM-ta''){{Dubious|date=August 2011}}. |
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A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, [1] especially one in five-line Two short, unstressed syllables followed by one long stressed syllable. or One stressed syllable surrounded by two unstressed syllables. meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century. [2] It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, [3] although he did not use the term.
The following example of a limerick is of unknown origin:
Gershon Legman, who compiled the largest and most scholarly anthology, held that the true limerick as a folk form is always obscene, and cites similar opinions by Arnold Bennett and George Bernard Shaw, [4] describing the clean limerick as a periodic fad and object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity. From a folkloric point of view, the form is essentially transgressive; violation of taboo is part of its function.
lol The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three feet of three syllables each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The defining "foot" of a limerick's meter is usually the anapaest, (ta-ta-TUM), but limericks can also be considered amphibrachic (ta-TUM-ta)[ dubious – discuss].
However, from a rhythmic point of view, lines 1, 2 and 5 have a silent accent at the end, making 4 accents per line. Lines 3 and 4 combined also have 4 accents, making four lines with an overall total of 16 accents (i.e. foot tapping "beats" ). This is why limericks can be sung to sixteen bars of 3/4 music. Reading, or reciting, naturally follows the faster rhythm of 6/8 time, making eight bars of two triplets per bar. A triplet represents a "foot" of 3 syllables.
The first line traditionally introduces a person and a place, with the place appearing at the end of the first line and establishing the rhyme scheme for the second and fifth lines. In early limericks, the last line was often essentially a repeat of the first line, although this is no longer customary.
Within the genre, ordinary speech stress is often distorted in the first line, and may be regarded as a feature of the form: "There was a young man from the coast;" "There once was a girl from Detroit…" Legman takes this as a convention whereby prosody is violated simultaneously with propriety. [5] Exploitation of geographical names, especially exotic ones, is also common, and has been seen as invoking memories of geography lessons in order to subvert the decorum taught in the schoolroom; Legman finds that the exchange of limericks is almost exclusive to comparatively well-educated males, women figuring in limericks almost exclusively as "villains or victims". The most prized limericks incorporate a kind of twist, which may be revealed in the final line or lie in the way the rhymes are often intentionally tortured, or both. Many limericks show some form of internal rhyme, alliteration or assonance, or some element of word play.
Verses in limerick form are sometimes combined with a refrain to form a limerick song, a traditional humorous drinking song often with obscene verses.
The origin of the name limerick for this type of poem is debated. As of several years ago, its usage was first documented in England in 1898 (New English Dictionary) and in America in 1902, but in recent years several earlier uses have been documented. The name is generally taken to be a reference to the City or County of Limerick in Ireland [6] [7] sometimes particularly to the Maigue Poets, and may derive from an earlier form of nonsense verse parlour game that traditionally included a refrain that included "Will [or won't] you come (up) to Limerick?" [8] The earliest known use of the name "Limerick" for this type poem is an 1880 reference, in a Saint John, New Brunswick newspaper, to an apparently well-known tune, [9]
The limerick form was popularized by Edward Lear in his first Book of Nonsense (1845) and a later work (1872) on the same theme. Lear wrote 212 limericks, mostly nonsense verse. It was customary at the time for limericks to accompany an absurd illustration of the same subject, and for the final line of the limerick to be a kind of conclusion, usually a variant of the first line ending in the same word.
The following is an example of one of Edward Lear's limericks.
(Lear's limericks were often typeset in three or four lines, according to the space available under the accompanying picture.)
The idiosyncratic link between spelling and pronunciation in the English language is explored in this Scottish example (the name Menzies is pronounced /[invalid input: 'icon']ˈmɪŋɪs/ MING-iss).
The limerick form is so well known that it can be parodied in fairly subtle ways. These parodies are sometimes called anti-limericks. The following example, of unknown origin, subverts the structure of the true limerick by changing the number of syllables in the lines.
The following example subverts the structure of the true limerick by changing the number of lines.
Other anti-limericks follow the meter of a limerick but deliberately break the rhyme scheme, like the following example, attributed to W.S. Gilbert, in a parody of a limerick by Lear.
A series of limericks was used to great effect in World War II to obtain priority in a dockyard to have new guns fitted to the Dutch sloop Soemba.
The first was:
The series continued up to a final limerick by the vice-chief of staff of the Royal Dutch navy. [13]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: date format (
link)
Limerick bibliographies:
m Reverted 1 edit by
86.168.110.189 (
talk) identified as
vandalism to last revision by Bagworm. (
TW) |
|||
Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
==Form== |
==Form== |
||
lol |
|||
The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three [[Foot (prosody)|feet]] of three [[syllables]] each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The defining "foot" of a limerick's meter is usually the [[anapaest]], (''ta-ta-TUM''), but limericks can also be considered [[amphibrach]]ic (''ta-TUM-ta''){{Dubious|date=August 2011}}. |
The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three [[Foot (prosody)|feet]] of three [[syllables]] each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The defining "foot" of a limerick's meter is usually the [[anapaest]], (''ta-ta-TUM''), but limericks can also be considered [[amphibrach]]ic (''ta-TUM-ta''){{Dubious|date=August 2011}}. |
||
A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, [1] especially one in five-line Two short, unstressed syllables followed by one long stressed syllable. or One stressed syllable surrounded by two unstressed syllables. meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century. [2] It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century, [3] although he did not use the term.
The following example of a limerick is of unknown origin:
Gershon Legman, who compiled the largest and most scholarly anthology, held that the true limerick as a folk form is always obscene, and cites similar opinions by Arnold Bennett and George Bernard Shaw, [4] describing the clean limerick as a periodic fad and object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity. From a folkloric point of view, the form is essentially transgressive; violation of taboo is part of its function.
lol The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth usually rhyming with one another and having three feet of three syllables each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The defining "foot" of a limerick's meter is usually the anapaest, (ta-ta-TUM), but limericks can also be considered amphibrachic (ta-TUM-ta)[ dubious – discuss].
However, from a rhythmic point of view, lines 1, 2 and 5 have a silent accent at the end, making 4 accents per line. Lines 3 and 4 combined also have 4 accents, making four lines with an overall total of 16 accents (i.e. foot tapping "beats" ). This is why limericks can be sung to sixteen bars of 3/4 music. Reading, or reciting, naturally follows the faster rhythm of 6/8 time, making eight bars of two triplets per bar. A triplet represents a "foot" of 3 syllables.
The first line traditionally introduces a person and a place, with the place appearing at the end of the first line and establishing the rhyme scheme for the second and fifth lines. In early limericks, the last line was often essentially a repeat of the first line, although this is no longer customary.
Within the genre, ordinary speech stress is often distorted in the first line, and may be regarded as a feature of the form: "There was a young man from the coast;" "There once was a girl from Detroit…" Legman takes this as a convention whereby prosody is violated simultaneously with propriety. [5] Exploitation of geographical names, especially exotic ones, is also common, and has been seen as invoking memories of geography lessons in order to subvert the decorum taught in the schoolroom; Legman finds that the exchange of limericks is almost exclusive to comparatively well-educated males, women figuring in limericks almost exclusively as "villains or victims". The most prized limericks incorporate a kind of twist, which may be revealed in the final line or lie in the way the rhymes are often intentionally tortured, or both. Many limericks show some form of internal rhyme, alliteration or assonance, or some element of word play.
Verses in limerick form are sometimes combined with a refrain to form a limerick song, a traditional humorous drinking song often with obscene verses.
The origin of the name limerick for this type of poem is debated. As of several years ago, its usage was first documented in England in 1898 (New English Dictionary) and in America in 1902, but in recent years several earlier uses have been documented. The name is generally taken to be a reference to the City or County of Limerick in Ireland [6] [7] sometimes particularly to the Maigue Poets, and may derive from an earlier form of nonsense verse parlour game that traditionally included a refrain that included "Will [or won't] you come (up) to Limerick?" [8] The earliest known use of the name "Limerick" for this type poem is an 1880 reference, in a Saint John, New Brunswick newspaper, to an apparently well-known tune, [9]
The limerick form was popularized by Edward Lear in his first Book of Nonsense (1845) and a later work (1872) on the same theme. Lear wrote 212 limericks, mostly nonsense verse. It was customary at the time for limericks to accompany an absurd illustration of the same subject, and for the final line of the limerick to be a kind of conclusion, usually a variant of the first line ending in the same word.
The following is an example of one of Edward Lear's limericks.
(Lear's limericks were often typeset in three or four lines, according to the space available under the accompanying picture.)
The idiosyncratic link between spelling and pronunciation in the English language is explored in this Scottish example (the name Menzies is pronounced /[invalid input: 'icon']ˈmɪŋɪs/ MING-iss).
The limerick form is so well known that it can be parodied in fairly subtle ways. These parodies are sometimes called anti-limericks. The following example, of unknown origin, subverts the structure of the true limerick by changing the number of syllables in the lines.
The following example subverts the structure of the true limerick by changing the number of lines.
Other anti-limericks follow the meter of a limerick but deliberately break the rhyme scheme, like the following example, attributed to W.S. Gilbert, in a parody of a limerick by Lear.
A series of limericks was used to great effect in World War II to obtain priority in a dockyard to have new guns fitted to the Dutch sloop Soemba.
The first was:
The series continued up to a final limerick by the vice-chief of staff of the Royal Dutch navy. [13]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: date format (
link)
Limerick bibliographies: