Empower p 56. Relative Clauses: Limericks

limerick    /ˈlɪmərɪk/   

​a humorous short poem, with two long lines that rhyme with each other, followed by two short lines that rhyme with each other and ending with a long line that rhymes with the first two. They rhyme AABBA.

Limericks are humour poems. They begin by introducing a person and a place.
Examples:
There was a young man from Spain.
There was an old lady from Bath.
 

A) Below there are six jumbled limericks. Sort the lines into the correct order. The first line of each poem has a number in brackets.

Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
One day, they suppose
Who used to eat onions in bed.
He woke up in the night
There was an old woman from Kent (1)
It’s not very funny.
And found it was perfectly true.
His mother said ‘Sonny,
And nobody knows where she went.
There was an old man from Crewe /kruː/ (6)
With a terrible fright
Whose nose was remarkably bent.
Why don’t you eat people instead?’
She followed her nose
There was a young cannibal called Ned, (11)
_____________________________________
There was a young lady from Gloucester (1)
One day for her tea
Who grew exceedingly tall.
He could stretch out his leg
Who was awfully fond of small gherkins.
The trouble was how to defrost her.
From the fridge came a sound
There was a young lady called Perkins (6)
And turn off the light in the hall.
There was a young man called Paul (11)
And pickled her internal workings.
And at last she was found.
Whose parents thought they had lost her.
She devoured forty-three
When he got into bed.



KEY
1. There was an old woman from Kent,



Whose nose was remarkably bent.



One day, they suppose,



She followed her nose,



And nobody knows where she went.



6. There was an old man from Crewe /kruː/



Who dreamed ( [dremt] ) he was eating his shoe.



He woke up in the night



With a terrible fright



And found it was perfectly true.



11. There was a young cannibal called Ned,



Who used to eat onions in bed.



His mother said “Sonny,



It’s not very funny.



Why don’t you eat people instead?“

_______________________________________

1. There was a young lady from Gloucester ( [‘gloste] )



Whose parents thought they had lost her.



From a fridge came a sound,



And at last she was found.



The trouble was how to defrost her.



6. There was a young lady called Perkins.



Who was every so fond of small gherkins



One day for tea she had 43



and pickled her internal workings!



11. There was a young man called Paul,



Who grew so exceedingly tall,



When he got into bed



He could stretch out his leg



And turn off the light in the hall.

 

B) Exercises

1. Handout + exercises

2. Now make up your own limerick
Example:
There was a young lady of Niger /ˈnaɪdʒ ə/ ,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger