Happy Limerick Day

I’m told that today, May 12, is set aside to honor the Limerick.  It is recognized on this day because it’s the birthday of English author Edward Lear, whose 1846 A Book of Nonsense is said to have helped bring the lyrical form to popularity.

I know that many have abused this poetical form to produce less than moral/acceptable verses, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t have some fun.  In fact, I think we can find more fun, silly, even informative lines than those who produce the other filth.  So, here are a few rhymes to honor the times.

There is of course the old classics like: 
A flea and a fly in a flue

Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

And this one from old Edward Lear himself:

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, “It is just as I feared!—
Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!”

Then there is this time travel verse that would make The Doctor himself proud:

There was a young woman named Kite,

Whose speed was much faster than light,
She set out one day,
In a relative way,
And returned on the previous night.

There is even a guy who has a whole site dedicated to rendering Bible verses into limericks.  Like this one on Hebrews 4:12: 
Paul said here that God’s word’s never dull.

That it’s dictums He’ll never annul.
That it shines like a star.
And it’s right where you are.
Friend, it’s time you got that thru your skull.

           

How about this NASCAR themed rhyme:

There once was a driver named Jeff

Whose engine could make you go deaf
But hearing that roar
Still makes my heart soar
Even if he only turns left

And I’ll leave you with my recent favorite: 
There was a young man of Japan

Whose limericks never would scan.
When asked why this was,
He replied "It's because
I always try to fit as many syllables into the last line as ever I possibly can."