A form of “folk poetry,” limericks are comedic five-line poems memorable for their strict AABBA rhyme scheme and their funny, often bawdy, subject matter. The limerick’s origins are unknown, though both a city and a county in Ireland share its name. The moniker may have come from a raucous 18th-century Irish soldiers’ song called “Will You Come Up to Limerick?”
The earliest known limericks published in English were found in 1791’s Mother Goose’s Melodies. Prolific author and poet Edward Lear further defined and popularized the catchy style of verse in 1846 with A Book of Nonsense. Since the early 20th century, magazines and other businesses have helped keep this poetic form alive by sponsoring limerick-writing contests to inspire the next generation of Lears.
Here are 12 of the wittiest limericks ever written, appropriate for all audiences.
There was an old man of Nantucket / Who kept all his cash in a bucket; / But his daughter, named Nan, / Ran off with a man, / And as for the bucket, Nantucket.Anonymous
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.Edward Lear
There was an old man of the Cape / Who made himself garments of crêpe; / When asked, “Do they tear?” / He replied, “Here and there; / But they’re perfectly splendid for shape.”Robert Louis Stevenson
There was a professor named Chesterton, / Who went for a walk with his best shirt on. / Being hungry, he et it, / But lived to regret it,/ And ruined for life his digestion.W.S. Gilbert
A canner, exceedingly canny, / One morning remarked to his granny: / “A canner can can / Anything that he can, / But a canner can’t can a can, can he?”Carolyn Wells
There was a young lady of Twickenham / Whose shoes were too tight to walk quick in ’em. / She came back from a walk / Looking whiter than chalk / And took ’em both off and was sick in ’em.Oliver Herford
God’s plan made a hopeful beginning / But man spoiled his chances by sinning / We trust that the story / Will end in God’s glory / But at present, the other side’s winning.Oliver Wendell Holmes
And let me the canakin clink, clink; / And let me the canakin clink: / A soldier’s a man; / A life’s but a span; / Why, then, let a soldier drink.William Shakespeare
There was a young lady of station, / “I love man” was her sole exclamation; / But when men cried, “You flatter,” / She replied, “Oh! No matter! / Isle of Man is the true explanation.”Lewis Carroll
A dozen a gross and a score, / Plus three times the square root of four, / Divided by seven / Plus five times eleven / Is nine squared and not a bit more.Leigh Mercer
There was a Young Lady of Niger, / Who smiled as she rode on a tiger; / They came back from the ride / With the lady inside, / And the smile on the face of the tiger.Anonymous
A wonderful bird is the pelican. / His bill can hold more than his belly can / He can hold in his beak / Enough food for a week, / But I’m damned if I see how the hell he can.Dixon Lanier Merritt
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