I love them both and find delight in composing either–although I’m not very good at nonsense verse. It’s a very strict form of verse–even more strict than limerick (which can borrow from nonsense.)
Would anyone care to join me in limerick writing?
The only rule would be to follow the basic meter of a limerick.
I’d try to illustrate, but it’s after midnight, my time, and I need to go to bed.
You can always pick up the rhythm by reading Harry Lauder. (Think 1/8 notes, 1/4 notes and 1/2 notes, and rests if you’re musically inclined.)
As for nonsense verse, Lewis Carrol is the master, with John Lennon in second place–at least, imo.
Here’s one I wrote about the cuts in higher education.
A principal pissed as a parrot
Held court with a cake and a carrot.
His teachers adrift
Served up with such thrift
Tossed tea at his head to unhair it.
And here’s the one that came trippingly off the tongue of Father McCabe in St. Elsewhere.
There once was a girl from Nantucket
Whose goose every man tried to pluck it.
It’s thighs were so thick,
It’s feet were so quick,
If it only sat down you could…
I don’t care if it’s not your language–it just might end up being good for you. Give it a try! =D>
Here’s an example I composed today:
There once was a boy from Kentucky
Who thought he was really quite lucky.
He’d leapt out of bed
Without hitting his head.
From then on, his day was just ducky!
As you can see, the rhyme scheme is A,A,B,B,A
Rhythm depends a lot on how you speak–I’ll try to illustrate:
There once was a boy from Kentucky
Who thought he was really quite lucky.
He’d leapt out of bed
Without hitting his head.
From then on, his [d]ay[/u] was just ducky!
It’s basically iambic pentameter with musical ‘slurs,’ if that makes sense.
Here’s another one I penned a while back. Any association with any political figure is purely coinkidental.
A chimp from a ranch had a do,
Inviting his friends from the zoo.
He laughed when the seal
Slipped hard on the peel
Of his naynay and cried boohoohoo.
(naynay is banana)
Here’s one from Edward Lear (I think).
A flea and a fly in a flue
were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the flea, let us fly!
Said the fly, let us flee!
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
I gave up after i wasn’t able to come up with anything about Obama or Hillary. But here’s one about philosophy:
Descartes spent some time in an oven
Deciding which hand to put glove in.
He came out in a while
And said, with a smile,
I lost my glove while at a love in.
There was an old man from Khartou–m
Who kept two black sheep in a roo–m.
His wife was aghast
And cried out at last,
“This place smells much worse than a zoo–m.”
=D>
