Celebrate Limerick Day (and Edward Lear) With A Limerick — Updated with 2nd Limerick

Mother’s Day isn’t this week’s only important holiday. What else is there? International Limerick Day, of course, which celebrates the May 12th birthday of Edward Lear. After all, nobody’s done more than Edward Lear to popularize the limerick.

I’ve written a limerick two limericks to celebrate Lear and National Limerick Day, and I hope you’ll write one too:

Limerick Ode To Edward Lear
By Madeleine Begun Kane

It’s Limerick Day — did you hear —
On May 12th for the birth of Ed Lear.
In his honor that day
Rhyme A-A-B-B-A.
And thank him for spreading good cheer.

Update: I’ve written Edward Lear a 2nd limerick:

Edward Lear was a poet quite witty,
Who wrote verse rather brief, even bitty.
His birthday’s 12 May,
So we treasure that day
In thanks for the limerick ditty.

(Note: I’m also celebrating National Limerick Day on Facebook too.)

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13 Responses to “Celebrate Limerick Day (and Edward Lear) With A Limerick — Updated with 2nd Limerick”

  1. Veralynne says:

    To celebrate the limerick is okay
    But the holiday wasn’t today!
    It wasn’t great timing
    But I started in rhyming
    And here’s my first try–what d’ya say?

    (Just jumped in before reading all instructions–or your limerick! My bad!)

  2. madkane says:

    Rob, I’m with you — it should be every day. An Veralyn, you’re not “bad” at all. Glad you jumped in.

  3. Joyce T. says:

    I enjoyed your instructive, commemorative verses, Mad. Here’s my offering:

    There once was a fellow named Lear
    Both witty and smart, t’would appear
    From his lim’ricks many
    Profane or just funny;
    His sense of the absurd we hold dear.

  4. Lisa Christian says:

    Edward Lear, although first, I find lame.
    His lines one and five? Often the same.
    In his day it was fine
    Now there’s better (some mine!)
    O-E-D-I-L-F wins this game.

  5. Carroll says:

    There was a young lim’rck named Limmy
    He thought it was better than Icky
    Which was quite a shame
    For what’s in a name?
    He really was awfully picky

  6. madkane says:

    Thanks, Joyce. And Lisa, I sure agree with you about OEDILF. Great organization! I should really starting being active there again … one of these days. :)

  7. KBhattacharya says:

    I fear that Dear old Mr. Ed Lear
    Was very certain that limericks tear
    The muscles of the stomach
    Badly tickled, they are racked
    And then made to shake with laughter, it is clear!

  8. Jesse Levy says:

    Oh dear oh dear oh dear oh dear
    It’s almost the birthday of Mr. Lear
    I’m caught short-handed
    For here I’m stranded
    At my closet with nothing to wear.

  9. KBhattacharya says:

    Limerick Day

    A limerick is a poetry trick
    That smoothly drops a brick
    On the reader’s head
    With things rather not said
    And then whacks the buttocks with a stick!

    We have Ogden Nash whose poetry
    Was funny, that we can always see
    But the cake
    Was his to take
    When he said “The puma had no sense of huma”! Gee!
    I would like to add, that no limerick
    Is complete unless it makes one (sic)
    Upbeat that he or she
    Would quietly
    Become cranky and hit the poet’s belly with a stick!

    Like this…

    A sophisticated maid from Delhi
    You must have heard this, really
    One who would fold herself,
    And roll into the kitchen shelf
    But the credit goes to her garlic mouth and gassing horribly!

    Celebrate Limerick Day- On 12 May 2010

  10. You are all clever writers,
    funny and creative fighters!

  11. The help desk is physically in Mumbai
    A place once simply called “Bombay.”
    The hell does it matter,
    Former or latter,
    Before its fixed, I’ll surly be gray.

  12. There once was a poet from Milwaukee
    Whose rhymes were decidedly talky
    So she moved to Chicago
    And found nothing rhymed there, either.

    From “Days of Dante” http://www.key-light.org/dante1.html

  13. Dr. Goose says:

    The limerick started with Lear,
    Who could tell us, if he were still here,
    That the soul of good wit
    Is to carefully fit
    In five lines all one needs to make clear.