How to Write a Limerick
There once was a fellow named Jerry,
Who sought to write limericks for Mary.
Perplexed, our dear poet
With eHow's help wrote it '
And Mary he later did marry.
- Difficulty:
- Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Dictionaries
- Poetry Books
- Rhyming Dictionaries
- Thesauri
- Pencils
- Paper
- Pens
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1
Prepare to write five lines of verse. If you're stumped, try starting off your limerick with the traditional 'There once was a ...'
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2
Create the following stress pattern in lines one, two and five: da-DA da-da-DA da-da-DA da. For example, "There ONCE was a FEL-low named JER-ry...." You can omit the last unstressed syllable if you prefer.
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3
Create the following stress pattern in lines three and four: da-DA da-da-DA da. For example, "Per-PLEXED our dear PO-et." As before, you have the option of omitting the last syllable.
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4
Make sure your limerick's rhyme scheme is a-a-b-b-a. In other words, the first, second and fifth lines all rhyme with one another; the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other.
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5
Exploit puns and wordplay.
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1
Tips & Warnings
The racier, the better. Limericks are notoriously bawdy and obnoxious.
The last line should deliver a punch, be it surprising, funny or naughty.
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Comments
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OH MERE SHADI HO GAI.
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good but you should have given some examples too.
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oh my! so easy, heheheh.
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these limericks are gay.
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redordead
Sep 19, 2010
i like to start with the 3rd and 4th line, finding 2 catchy rhymes, than writing a 5th line that would be the (usually dirty) punch line, and than finding the two first lines that build the background and rhyme with the 5th. like, today while waiting to the bus i thought off "a couple years later, he turned to a waiter", than th 5th came pretty naturally "and she ended up as a ho", and than finding the 2 first was a peace of cake: t"here was a young singer named joe who dated a gal' from ningbo a couple years later he turned to a waiter and she ended up as a ho" i can also explain why this order is the best: the 2 first lines don't really matter. if they suppost to be funny, it's usually a bad limerick. since they'r content isn't that importent, you can always find 2 lines that would both build up the background, and rhyme with the fifth. the importent rhymes are the 3rd line with...
