The limericks I enjoy most are the ones which play on
the standard limerick structure. Below are some of my favourites:
My other favourite sort of limerick are those that play
on communication conventions.
The following two limericks, written by Elliott
Moreton, use the limerick form to play around with the interplay of written
language and ideas to convey the author's intent.
There was a Soviet captain named XXXXXXXXXX
Who was a XXXXXXX technician in XXXXXXXXX.
He was XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For failure to clear
Limericks with his superiors.
Here we see the limerick form being used to caricature
Soviet censorship. Though nothing is said overtly about censorship, the use of
censorship resonates so harshly within the fun form of the limerick, it forces
the reader to reflect on what is happening.
In the following limerick, the convention of publishing
one's own work followed by copyright information has been neatly combined into
a single limerick. The work and the copyright have become one.
This poem is copyright ©
By the author, 1983.
Prior written consent
Is required to present
It on radio, film, or TV.
These limericks are from
Elliott Moreton and Carl Muckenhoupt,
The Oxford Book of Meta-Limericks (privately published,
Oxford, MS,
ca. 1989)
For more on these limericks, see
Words and stuff
And finally, impressed by Elliott's brilliance, is my
attempt to blend the limerick form with mathematical conventions. Here
goes.
.·. i > p
For even more limericks, be sure to
check out my collection.
