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> Jasen Hoglund wrote:
>
> [snipped, because I don't want to pick on him specifically]
>
> Can't we get some limericks that actually *are* limericks?
> People have mostly got the rhyme scheme right (some of the
> rhymes are imperfect), but there are still far too many
> syllables in far too many (like, say, almost all)
> attempts.
>
> The canonical syllabic scheme of a limerick is this:
>
> da-da-DA-da-da-DA-da-da-DA
> da-da-DA-da-da-DA-da-da-DA
> da-da-DA-da-da-DA
> da-da-DA-da-da-DA
> da-da-DA-da-da-DA-da-da-DA
>
> For example:
>
> there-WAS-a-young-LA-dy-named-BRIGHT
> who-could-TRAV-el-much-FAST-er-than-LIGHT
> she-SET-off-one-DAY
> in-a-REL-a-tive-WAY
> and re-TURNED-the-PREV-i-ous-NIGHT
>
> The first syllable can always be left off, as in lines 1
> and 3, and you can squeeze in one, at most two extra syllables
> per line (though this example doesn't). It's also okay to
> drop an unstressed syllable here and there, as in line 5.
>
> You can also have one (or even two) unstressed syllables at
> the end, provided the rhyme scheme is respected:
>
> a-MATH-e-ma-TI-cian-con-FI-ded
> that-a-MOE-bi-us-BAND-is-one-SI-ded
> and-you'll-GET-quite-a-LAUGH
> if-you-CUT-one-in-HALF
> for-it-STAYS-in-one-PIECE-when-di-VI-ded
>
> Rhythmical alterations beyond these produce not a
> limerick but a shapeless mess. It don't mean a thing if it
> ain't got that swing!
Hmm. Odd to see limericks taken so seriously.
For one thing, dactylic trimeter is an abomination in English (worse than heroic couplets, which have the same fundamental flaw).
Therefore, I'd say that a limerick is always a mess unless it's outrageously funny, besides having the right rhyme and scansion.
Oh well, at least limerick is far less barbaric than Haiku in English. I plain skipped that enormous thread for my own sanity.
--
Uche Ogbuji Principal Consultant
uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com +1 303 583 9900 x 101
Fourthought, Inc. http://Fourthought.com
4735 East Walnut St, Boulder, CO 80301-2537, USA
XML strategy, XML tools (http://4Suite.org), knowledge management
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