Write a Limerick

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Hello and welcome to VisiHow. In this series of videos, we are exploring different ways to write poetry and in this video, we are going to focus on limericks. A limerick is a short, fun poem making light of individuals' characteristics and the situations they find themselves in. Here is an example from Spike Milligan:

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   A combustible woman from Thang Exploded one day with a bang The maid then ran in and said with a grin Pardon me, Madame

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   You rang? As you can see the 1st, 2nd &5th lines must rhyme. So we have Thang, bang and rang. They have the same rhythm and must be between 7 and 10 syllables. The 3rd and 4th lines must also rhyme, have the same rhythm and be between 5 & 7 syllables.

   

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2. 2
   So this is the basic or the formulaic structure for a limerick

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   After that comes the content. Following the general style of limericks, we can write our own. The first thing we need to do for the first line is choose a noun for every person, place, object or animal.

   

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3. 3
   Here we have "There once was a young man from Holt"

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   Holt is a place, and the line contains 8 syllables. Remember it must contain between 7 and 10.

   

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4. 4
   The second line must rhyme so..

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   Now list all the words that rhyme with "Holt". We have "bolt", "salt", "malt", "colt", "fault" and "jolt". Then for the second line write about a characteristic or action. This line we have "With a peculiar fondness for colts". That's 10 syllables.

   

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5. 5
   Now the next two lines

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   We rhyme them and explain what is happening in this little story. "He loved brushing their hair, with such tender loving care". "He loved brushing their hair": 6 syllables "with such tender loving care": 7 syllables. In the final line, we deliver the punchline or conclusion. Here we have "Yet as soon as he slept they did bolt". That would be 9 syllables. Here is the complete limerick:

   

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6. 6
   There once was a young man from Holt With a peculiar fondness for Colts He loved brushing their hair With such tender loving care Yet as soon as he slept they did bolt As you can see here, we followed the rules

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   We've included the right amount of syllables in the 1st, 2nd and 5th line, between 7 and 10 syllables, and they rhyme. In the 3rd and 4th line, we have between 5 and 7 syllables, and they rhyme.

   

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7. 7
   That is how you write a limerick

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   Now it's your turn to give it a go. So get going with that and create your own limericks, and you can leave them in the comment section below and share them with us and everyone else watching these videos. If you have any questions, suggestions or queries about this video, you can also leave them in the section below. In that section, you will also find links to the other videos in this series, relating to how to write different forms of poetry. You've been watching a video on how to write a limerick. You've been watching VisiHow. Goodbye.

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Can you help me write a limerick with energetic?

I can't think of any. I tried to do it but I can't, so I am in this web site to help me with my homework

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