Name: ___________________________

Section: _________________

Limericks
The limerick takes its name from the city of Limerick, Ireland, although no one really knows how or where
the form originated. The limerick is a humorous, nonsense verse consisting of a triplet and a couplet,
creating a five line poem. Covering a wide range of subjects, the first line of a limerick often begins with
“There once was” or “There was a” and ends with the name of a person. Lines 1, 2, and 5 are the triplet
and rhyme; lines 3 and 4 form a rhyming couplet.

There once was a student at school

Who would not conform to the rule.
He used all his time
To write funny rhyme
And limericks he used as his tool.

Complete these limericks with words that rhyme

There once was a princess named Meg
Who accidently broke her __________.
She slipped on the ___________
Not once, but twice
Take no pity on her, I ___________.
There once was a horse from _____________________
Who spoke to his master _________________________
The master was __________________________
And fell to his ___________________________
And the horse galloped off _______________________

More Limerick Examples:

There once was a young man from Dealing
Who caught the bus for Ealing.
It said on the door
Don’t spit on the floor
So he jumped up and spit on the ceiling.
There once was a man from Peru,
Who dreamed he had eaten his shoe,
he awoke with a fright
in the middle of the night
And found that his dream had come true!

A tutor who tooted the flute

Tried to tutor two tooters to toot
Said the two to the tutor,
“Is it harder to toot or
To tutor two tooters to toot?”
There once was a Thingamajig—
Like a Whatsis, but three times as big.
When it first came in view
It looked something like you
But it stayed and turned into a pig.

HOMEWORK: Write a limerick in the space provided below.

There once was __________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________

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