Limericks!

Today is National Limerick Day!

Observed annually on May 12th, National Limerick Day celebrates the birthday of English artist, illustrator, author, and poet Edward Lear (May 12, 1812 – Jan. 29, 1888). Lear is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry, prose, and limericks.

The day also celebrates the limerick poem. Limerick poems were popularized by Edward Lear’s book “Book of Nonsense” in 1846. A limerick is a very short, humorous, nonsense poem. Within a limerick, there are five lines. The first two lines rhyme with the fifth line and the third and fourth line rhyme together.

People love limericks because they allow you to be creative and let everyone be a poet! Limericks offer a fun way to still be poetic, without taking themselves too seriously. Not every poem has to be 100 lines long without any rhyming. Limericks live a little and make you laugh!

How to celebrate: write your own limerick, take a poetry class, or even take a trip to Limerick!

What is your favorite limerick? (Let’s keep it clean everyone! 🙂 )