LIMERICKS IN THE MIDDLE AGES A limerick is

LIMERICKS IN THE MIDDLE AGES! A limerick is a non-sense poem popular during the middle ages. Although no one knows for sure, the limerick form is thought to have germinated in France during the Middle Ages, after which it crossed the English Channel. Limericks were short and easily remembered. One did not have to know how to read or write to enjoy a limerick. The humor and easy creation of limericks infused oral poetry across class-lines. They were also ways to spread ideas and information to an illiterate population. Limericks have been used in everything from Shakespeare to nursery rhymes. Yet it wasn’t until the early 1700 s that soldiers returning from the continent-wide War of the Spanish Succession brought the limerick form to Ireland. In 1776, it appeared in published form in Mother Goose’s Melodies; 25 years later, when Mother Goose nursery rhymes attained fame, the limerick was forever affixed to children’s literature.

WRITING LIMERICKS

SAMPLE LIMERICKS The r Wh e was a o Two said, “ n old m four owls a It is jus an with n Hav larks a d a he t as I fe a bear d, n n ared e al l bu d a wr , ! ”. e ilt t heir n, nest s in my bea rd. Hickory Dock The mouse ran up the clock. When the clock struck one, Down he did run. Hickory Dock. There once was a woman named Grace, Who wore chocolate all over her face. When asked why that’s so, She replied, “Don’t you know? ” I can’t find a towel any place!

LET’S TRY ONE TOGETHER!! A A B B A THERE ONCE WAS A GIRL NAMEDMEG. WHO ACCIDENTALLY BROKE HER LEFT _____. SHE SLIPPED ON THE____. NOT ONCE, BUTTWICE! TAKE NO PITY ON HER, I _____.

There once was a teacher named Pam Who wore clothes made of wool from a lamb. She wrapped a scarf round her shoulder, As the temperatures grew c older , And she always looked very glam.

Now, create your own silly limerick using your name! Of course you will draw a cartoon to illustrate : )