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How to Write a Limerick Infographic

By Will Willingham 12 Comments

How to Write a Limerick Infographic

The limerick’s an interesting form
They say that offense is really the norm
If some feathers aren’t ruffled
Or you’ve begun no kerfuffle
Your poem is sure to underperform.

While the limerick may have made an early appearance in the reverent context of a prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas, it was popularized by Edward Lear in nonsense poems for children, and the form later became the playground of the bawdy, with some even arguing that if a limerick is G-rated, it’s not really a limerick at all. On poetry’s special days throughout the year, Twitter is as flush with limericks as it is with the many variations of Roses are Red poems from once-a-year poets eager to test their meter.

Feel like trying your hand at a limerick? Our new limerick infographic has some tips (and chickens) to get you started. Note that a rhyming dictionary may be advised.

How to Write a Limerick Infographic

How to Write a Limerick Infographic

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Post and infographic by Will Willingham.

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How to Write a Poem 283 highHow to Write a Poem uses images like the buzz, the switch, the wave—from the Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”—to guide writers into new ways of writing poems. Excellent teaching tool. Anthology and prompts included.

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Will Willingham
Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.
Will Willingham
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Filed Under: Blog, English Teaching Resources, Infographics, Limerick, poetry teaching resources

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About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel is Adjustments.

Comments

  1. L.L. Barkat says

    April 6, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    I love the chickens. I’m not sure how we got to a place of perpetually hatching them, but I’m glad we did. Maybe it was your chicken chase that started it all. Now, they are caught on our infographics, ever after to entertain us :).

    Reply
    • Bethany R. says

      April 7, 2017 at 9:50 pm

      Yes, I’m enjoying the chicken thread too! 😉 LW’s infographics are fabulous teaching tools and such fun. Thanks for this.

      Reply
  2. Megan Willome says

    May 1, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    Just used this one, Will! Thanks so much for putting the Fun in form poetry.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Family Limericks: Poetry Prompt - says:
    April 17, 2017 at 8:00 am

    […] guilty party. You don’t want to be left out of the will, do you? Go ahead and get started, follow the simple form, and have some fun at their familial […]

    Reply
  2. Fun Reading Activities: Color & Trace "A Buffalo and Joe" - says:
    June 26, 2017 at 3:44 am

    […] Try your hand at a buffalo limerick. Use the “fun facts” as inspiration if you like. Need more inspiration? Check out our limerick infographic. […]

    Reply
  3. Fun Reading Activities: Color & Trace "Molly, Bread and Butter" - says:
    July 1, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    […] Try your hand at a butter limerick. Use the “fun facts” as inspiration if you like. Need more inspiration? Check out our limerick infographic. […]

    Reply
  4. Fun Reading Activities: Color & Trace "Joe, a Grill and Brisket" - says:
    July 5, 2017 at 8:00 am

    […] Try your hand at a brisket limerick. Use the “fun facts” as inspiration if you like. Need more inspiration? Check out our limerick infographic. […]

    Reply
  5. Fun Reading Activities: Color & Trace "Molly On the Books" - says:
    July 12, 2017 at 8:01 am

    […] Try your hand at a limerick about books. Use the “fun facts” as inspiration if you like. Need more inspiration? Check out our limerick infographic. […]

    Reply
  6. Top 10 Limericks - says:
    February 22, 2018 at 8:00 am

    […] limerick is a fun little poetry form. It’s often used for bawdy rhymes, though its origins were more for the pre-school […]

    Reply
  7. Fun Reading Activities: Color & Trace "The Lady Mouse Has a Mandolin" - says:
    May 24, 2018 at 8:00 am

    […] Try your hand at a limerick about mandolins and mice. Use the “fun facts” as inspiration if you like. Need more inspiration? Check out our limerick infographic. […]

    Reply
  8. 5 Best (and Worst) AI Poetry Generators - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    September 26, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    […] rest. (The same site can also generate haiku, villanelles, didactic cinquains, rhyming couplets, limericks, acrostics, tanka, narrative poems, and concrete […]

    Reply
  9. 50 States of Generosity: Iowa - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    April 8, 2025 at 11:47 am

    […] if you can create a poem (maybe a limerick or a haiku) from something you learned. Maybe use this State Fair trivia site for […]

    Reply

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