| Limericks You are going to see some examples of limericks, which are humorous, short poems of five lines and they have a particular rhyming scheme. Notice how the endings of the lines rhyme: the first, second and fifth lines and then the third and fourth lines. There was an old man of Peru /A/ Who dreamt he was eating a shoe. /A/ He awoke in the night /B/ With a terrible fright /B/ And found it was perfectly true! /A/ I’d rather have fingers than toes; /A/ I’d rather have ears than a nose. /A/ And as for my hair, /B/ I’m glad it’s still there /B/ I’ll be awfully sad when it goes. /A/ Activities 1 Practise saying the above limericks with a partner, taking care to use the correct rhythm. 2 Read the following limericks and suggest words to go in the missing space. A young man from Dover called Gerry Went to France on the cross-channel ferry. From noon until nine He drank duty-free wine And returned feeling ill but not……………. ( Choose from: DRUNK TIPSY MERRY SLOSHED ) A rather fat thief called Denise Climbed through a window in Nice. She got stuck getting out, And heard the shopkeeper shout, Just a minute, I’ll call the………….. NOTICE: that the place name “Nice” is pronounced with the long /I:/ sound. ( Choose from: BOSS POLICE PRISON C.I.A. ) 3 With a partner, write some limericks and then practise reading them together. 4 Re-write one of the limericks, leaving out the last word of the poem. Write four suggestions for words to go in the gap. Exchange with another couple. |
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