Limerick

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Tweet Report an Error
  • The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

Limerick: a brief comic poem consisting of an ictosyllabic four-beat four-line stanza in triple measure rhyming a a (b)b a (where (b) indicates internal rhyme), in which all but the third line have silent final beats (see isoictic). Line three is normally printed as two lines:

A macho young cowboy named Tex
Was ar
raigned for exposing his sex;
But the judge, with a snort, Threw the case out of court,
For non curat de minimis …

131 words

Citation: Groves, Peter Lewis. "Limerick". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5526, accessed 24 November 2024.]

5526 Limerick 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.