Great Britain

The origin of the name “limerick” for this type of poem is debated. As of several years ago, its usage was first documented in England in the 1898 (New English Dictionary) and in the United States in 1902, but in recent years several earlier uses have been documented. The name is generally taken to be a reference to the City or County of Limerick in Ireland.

A limerick is a short, humorous, often ribald or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line anapestic or amphibrachic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent

The standard form of a limerick is a stanza of five lines, with the first, second and fifth rhyming with one another and having three feet of three syllables each; and the shorter third and fourth lines also rhyming with each other, but having only two feet of three syllables. The first line traditionally introduces a person and a place, with the place appearing at the end of the first line and establishing the rhyme scheme for the second and fifth lines.

The limerick packs laughs anatomicalIn space that is quite economical.But the good ones I've seenSo seldom are cleanAnd the clean ones so seldom are comical.

The most famous author of limericks is Edward Lear. He was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularized.

There was a Young Lady whose chinResembled the point of a pin:So she had it made sharp,And purchased a harp,And played several tunes with her chin.

1.Бородач огорчался: "Беда! Словно птичий базар, борода!В ней и совы, и клест,И ворона, и дрозд...Я боялся такого всегда!"

2.Был один старичок с бородоюПоражавшей своею длиною.Журавли и синицы,Что за чудные птицы,Свили гнезда в ней вместе с совою.

There was a Young Lady of Ryde,Whose shoe-strings were seldom untied.She purchased some clogs,And some small spotted dogs,And frequently walked about Ryde.

1. Симпатичная леди с Атлантики,Завязавши ботинки на бантики,Знай гуляла по пристаниСо щенками пятнистымиИ порочила климат Атлантики.

2. Одна леди младая из Райда,Шнурками рассержена крайне.Ей купить не слабо,Было псов и сабо,С ними часто гуляла по Райду