The limerick is Ireland’s most famous poetic export, a catchy light verse consisting of a series of five-line stanzas with an aabba rhyme scheme.
The limerick will never be labeled a literary classic, nor does it stand up to Ireland’s other rich and complex lyrical poetic forms, but it has enjoyed great popularity for more than two centuries. The five-line structure lives within the jokes, puns, pranks, and wisecracks of countless immortal and ordinary poets, making it one of the most famous English-language fixed verse forms. From pub to campus to nursery rhymes, the limerick lives on.
| Rhyme: | aabba |
| Structure: | Five lines; other variations exist (but are rare) |
| Measure/Beat: | Iambic trimeter in first, second, fifth lines; dimeter in third and fourth lines |
| Common Themes: | Puns, travels, barroom humor, sex |
| Other Notes: |
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