Limerick
Named from the Irish city on the River Shannon, the five-line AABBA verse form has been delighting and scandalizing audiences since at least the 18th century, when the Maigue poets gathered in the taverns around the city of Limerick. Legend credits the form's name to a party game: guests would improvise a verse beginning "There was a ... from Limerick."
Whatever the origin, the limerick became famous for what it could get away with. The American humorist Don Marquis divided all limericks into three kinds:
"Limericks to be told when ladies are present; limericks to be told when ladies are absent but clergymen are present — and limericks."
— Don Marquis, as reported by Gershon Legman in The Limerick
Today's batch, generated fresh by a small service that writes a new limerick every day, demonstrates all three kinds at once. The first is safe for any company. The other two are best kept behind cards — click to open them at your own discretion.
ladies present - Safe version for unknown viewers
There once was a fellow from Rome,
who celebrated the city’s grand dome,
on this August day,
the crowds shout hooray,
as they welcome the pope to his home.
Clean enough to recite with ladies present — the model follows the old rule: nothing obscene, nothing suggestive, just a well-turned rhyme.
clergymen present - For those feeling a bit more daring
Click to reveal the clergymen-present limerick
There was a young lass from July,
whose skirts were held daringly high,
since August the fourth,
warmed the breeze from the north,
making all of the bachelors sigh.
Still tellable when clergymen are present — but only just. The double entendre is allowed; the explicitness is not.
limerick - The real deal
Click to reveal the real limerick (NSFW)
there was a young fellow from rome,
who brought a new lover back home,
she took out his prick,
with a rhythmic quick flick,
and frothed like the sea in the foam.
And then there are the limericks proper — the ones Don Marquis left for the last category, with no ladies and no clergymen present. These are the limericks that made the form famous, and famous it very much is.
Post generated from the limerick-service, which writes a fresh limerick of the day for each of the three kinds.
