What to Submit?
With Valentine’s Day on 14 February in mind, write one new Limerick that serves as a pickup line for a proposed Valentine. There will be no nitpicking about syllable counts or rhymes as long as it SOUNDS RIGHT. I do like unusual words within context – one often extends one’s vocabulary in this manner. The dialect will, obviously, come into play, as with my example poem.
Scribbler From Southwark (poetrysoup.com)
BBC presenters pronounce Southwark as Suvuk. However, the locals pronounce it ‘su-thuk’ (‘u’ as in the word ‘up’), and by others: Suv-urk, Suth-urk, Suv-erk, etc.
The basic structure of the Limerick
Many Limericks show some form of internal rhyme, alliteration or assonance, or some element of wordplay. The Limerick has essentially an oral tradition and often relies on the punning of words to achieve the comedic effect, or substituting a word at the end of line five which would obviously follow the rhyme scheme, with a lesser offensive word, allowing the audience to fill in the blanks—in practice, a pregnant pause is used to bait the audience.
Please see the following Limerick for details: Man from Mars (poetrysoup.com)
[Edit] As my relevant blog, Twist and Turn - the Dance of Poetry, where I had elaborated on the composition of the final line, is now deleted, please see my latest article, Glossaries of some common poetic devices, regarding the twist found in Limericks. I apologise for any inconvenience. ~Su}
Because normal stresses on words are distorted, a Limerick must necessarily be read out loud to HEAR the line beat, to appreciate the poem. Normal metre (as we understand it) does not aid the poet in composing Limericks, neither do strict syllable counts! This is the reason why using a strong rhyme scheme (whether you opt for end-of-line stressed syllables or not, e.g. dogs DOES rhyme with fog) is essential to the success of a Limerick, as opposed to using slant rhyme or para-rhyme (the subject of some of my previous blogs*). Do avoid long, obscure words as they trip up the tongue and confuse the reader/listener.
They are anything between 7—10 syllables for lines 1, 2, and 5, & between 5—7 syllables for lines 3 and 4. Do try to keep them approximately uniform in line length, whichever ones you decide on. Rhyme scheme: aabba.
The title of the Limerick is usually derived from the first words of the opening line as it was traditionally an oral presentation and a ‘title’ was not required as such.
A SET REQUIREMENT for this contest: It is not centred on the page, but presented flush left, except for lines 3 and 4, which are indented (3 to 5 spaces per line) for the best effect on the written page. (As in life, there are other options, but this is what I require for this contest - there is a reason for it.) See my example poem in the NOTES.
Straight from the horse’s mouth: Writing Limericks: A How-To and a History | The Saturday Evening Post
THE USUAL DO’S AND DON’TS
Poems, and nothing but poems on the page – otherwise it will be an automatic N/A.
Do not centre your poem. Do not use boldface or italicise your poem. Do not use all caps. Only use a single space between each line.
Have fun!
*In order to access any of my previous blogs, follow the icon at the top of my poetry page.
Prizes
First Prize, Glory
Second Prize, Glory
Third Prize, Glory
Twelve Honorable Mentions
Preparing Your Entry
Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read (I find centred poems difficult to read ~Su) — no illustrations or fancy fonts.
English Language
Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible, unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.
A Note to Poetry Contestants
You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.