From my misspent youth, I have loved limericks.
Friend, if you'll "hang with me" for but a few minutes, I hope to encourage you to persist in writing here on Steemit. - @creatr
AS I look back now, and try to analyze the attraction the limerick holds for me, I can identify a few outstanding features.
Poetry seems to me generally more interesting than prose, because considerably more thought goes into each word.
The rhythm of the limerick is catchy; I can drum out limericks with my fingers. They engage me and get my body moving.
Ardpatrick Irish Round Tower, County Limerick, Ireland
By GothmogLord CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Many, if not all limericks are humorous,
intended to amuse. For example, here's a limerick I've known since childhood that still makes me chuckle:
There was a young man from St. Paul
who attended a costumer's ball
He decided to risk it
and go as a biscuit,
but a dog ate him up in the hall.
That the rhyme scheme of limericks is quite varied also intrigues me.
As you can see, this limerick is "AABBA," but "ABCCB" is also common. For comedic emphasis, some poets deliberately break the rhyming "rules." It is also fairly simple to insert extra syllables and still keep the rhythmic balance.
Do you have any favorite limericks?
Here's one more that I recall from decades ago, because of its humorous reflection on the physics of relativity:
There was a young lady from Wight
who could travel much faster than light.
She set out one day
in a relative way,
and returned home the preceding night.
Now for some original examples.
Enjoying limericks as I do, I've not been able to avoid writing a few of my own. I've shared some of my original "limerickry" here on Steemit at least once before. For example, I told the story of my encounter with a mermaid as a series of limericks in this post:
Limerick - Shannon River
By Santiperez CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Today I have "pep-talk" for my fellow Steemit authors, in limerick form.
Truth be told, I wrote this to encourage myself to "stay the course" here on Steemit. Later, it occurred to me that other content creators here might also find it encouraging.
There was a long-suffering writer,
bearing wisdom he’d stored up for years.
“What’s this Steemit?”
he asked, joined,
then took up the task
of explaining Steem wealth to his peers.
“Give me readers!” he pled with conviction,
“There is much that I’m yearning to share.”
Yet week after week,
though in earnest he’d seek,
very few seemed to sample his wares.
“Have patience!” he counseled himself.
“Surely more will discover you soon.
One by one, they will come
to the sound of your drum.
Many more, then, will dance to your tune,
for the treasures you daily disclose,
in good time, canny readers will find.
Before long they will learn,
recognize and discern,
that you truly have their good in mind.”
Fellow Steemit author, hang in there!
I believe that Steemit's best days are yet to come.
I wouldn't be here on Steemit if it weren't for you, my readers!
I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about all of them.
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