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LIMERICKS

Caruso,D'Anna, Di Palma, Greco
Saliceti

Limericks

 

There was an Old Man of the Hague,
Whose ideas were excessively vague;
He built a balloon,
To examine the moon,
That deluded Old Man of the Hague.

They are very popular English poetry; they are short poems which follow a fixed pattern: they have five lines with a fixed rhyme scheme (aabba) and a stress pattern (33223).

The poem has a rhythm which produces a pleasant musical effect. Line 1 begins with "There was" and line 2 is often a relative clause. People and places are usually nonsensical and the situation is humorous and often absurd.

The name "limerick" comes from the city of Limerick, in Ireland.

The most famous writer of limericks is Edward Lear (1812-1888), a Victorian writer and artist. He collected, illustrated and published his limericks in A Book of Nonsense (1846).

 Read some:
  HAVE FUN WITH NONSENSE POETRY!!  
 

The Young Man
from Bengal

Il giovanotto
di Bengala

There was a young man
from Bengal

Who went to a fancy-dress ball

He went just for funA bun

Dressed up as a bun

And a dog ate him up in the hall

C'era un giovane uomo del Bengala

Che andò ad un ballo mascherato

Egli andò per divertirsi

Vestito come una ciambella

E un cane lo mangiò nell'atrio

The Old Person of Gretna

L'anziano signore
di Gretna

There was an Old Person of Gretna

Who rushed down the crater of Etna;

When they said,"Is it hot?"

He replied, "No, it's not"

That mendocious old person of Gretna

C'era una persona anziana di Gretna

Che precipitò giù nel cratere dell' Etna;

Quando gli chiesero "Fa caldo?"

Egli rispose, "No, non lo è"

Quel bugiardo anziano di Gretna

  An Old Man
of the Hague

Un vecchio uomo
di Hague 

There was an old Man of the Hague,

Whose ideas were excessively vague;

He built a balloon,

To examine the moon,

That deluded Old Man of the Hague.

C'era un vecchio di Hague,

Le cui idee erano eccessivamente vaghe;

Egli costrui una molgonfiera,

Per esaminare la luna,

Quel deluso vecchio di Hague

The Young Lady
of Norway

La giovane signora
di Norvegia
There was a Young Lady of Norway,

Who casually sat in a doorway;

When the door squeezed her flat,

She exclaimed "What of that?"

This courageous Young Lady of Norway

 C'era una giovane signora di Norvegia

Che casualmente era seduta sulla soglia

Quando la porta la schiacciò

Ella esclamò "Cosa fu?"

Questa coraggiosa signorina di Norvegia
   

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