A short, funny poem with five lines that has a bouncy rhythm and usually a rhyme pattern of AABBA.
Named after Limerick, a city in Ireland, though the connection isn't entirely certain—it may have become associated with the form because of Irish wit or because Irish poets were known for this style. The word emerged in English in the 1890s.
There once was a form so absurd / That for limericks everyone heard / They're silly and quick / With a five-line trick / And the punchline makes readers go 'word'! Limericks were hugely popular in Victorian England, and Edward Lear made them famous by proving silly poems could be great literature.
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