A limerick is a very structured five-line poem. When limericks first came out they were a bit obscene, but that has changed with the times. The limerick was made popular by Edward Lear. A limerick is intended to be witty or humorous, and can be obscene with humorous intent.
The basic form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines. The first, second and fifth lines have eight or nine syllables and they rhyme with each other. The third and fourth lines have five or six syllables and rhyme separately. In most cases the lines of the limerick are written in the anapaestic meter, you can also find some to be amphibrachic.
Nobody really knows where the origin of the name limerick for the type of poem came from. The usage of the name limerick was first documented in England in 1898 and in 1902 in America. Most people believe that it is generally used in reference to the County of Limerick in Ireland, particularly the Maigue Poets. It might also derive from an earlier form of nonsense verse parlor game that included the refrain "Come all the way up to Limerick?"
The first line of a limerick normally introduces a person and a place. Most of the time the place appears at the end of the first line, which makes it establish the rhyming scheme for the second and fifth lines. The third and fourth lines of the limerick have the comic twist. The last line of the limerick is the conclusion. In your traditional limericks, the last line was often essentially a repeat of the first line. This method will still common is no longer customary.
In limericks, ordinary speech is often distorted in the first line; this might be regarded as a feature of the form. In most cases, the stress is not put on the first syllable in the sentence. The stress is put on the second, fifth, and eighth syllables. For example, "There was a young man from the coast." Another common thing with limericks is the exploitation of geographical names, especially the exotic ones. This practice has been seen as a way to invoke memories of geography lessons so that the students remember what is being taught in the classroom.
Something interesting to note in limericks is that they are almost exclusive to comparatively well educated males; women in most limericks are displayed as the villains or victims. The best limericks that you find will have incorporated a kind of twist, which can be revealed in the final line or the twist lies in the way the rhymes are intentionally tortured. In other cases, verses in limerick form are combined with a refrain to form a limerick song. The most popular type of song a limerick forms is a humorous drinking songs, which in some cases come with obscene verses.
Here is an example of a limerick by Edward Lear. Keep in mind his limericks were often typeset in three or four lines, according to the space available under the accompanying picture.
"There was a Young Person of Smyrna
Whose grandmother threatened to burn her;
But she seized on the cat, and said 'Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!'"
If you are thinking about writing your own limericks, something to keep in mind is to come up with your first line. Once you have the first line write down all of the words that you can think of that rhyme with the last word of the first line, you can even make up words so that they rhyme. Once you have the rhyming words the limerick can pretty much write itself, all you need is the rhyming words in the right spots and the correct syllables in each line.