Limerick (poetry)

:This article is about the poetic form. For other uses of the name, see Limerick (disambiguation).

Limericks in other languages than English

Although limericks have been written in a great number of different languages, many of these suffer from the fact that the meter of the limerick does not adapt well to such languages as, for example, French or Latin. Good limericks can be written in languages that have a similar natural rhythm to English.

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The following example is in Icelandic:

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:Þegar líkið er glaseygt, svo glampar í,

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:og í görnum er eitthvað, sem skvampar í,

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::enda nefbroddur rauður

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::-- þá er dóninn ei dauður --

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:heldur drekkur hann of mikið Campari.

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A French example, from 1715:

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:On s'étonne ici que Caliste

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:Ait pris l'habit de Moliniste

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::Puisque cette jeune beauté

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::Ote à chacun sa liberté

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:N'est-ce pas une Janseniste?

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And another French example:

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:Y avait un jeune homme de Dijon

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:Qui se foutait de toute religion.

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::Il a dit, "Quant à moi,

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::Je déteste les trois:

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:Le Père, et le Fils, et le Pigeon."

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An example in Swedish, attributed to Hans Alfredson:

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:Det var en ung dam ifrån Gränna

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:som stjärten så hårt kunde spänna

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::att hon i detta hål

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::kunde strypa en ål

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:och till och med vässa en penna

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(There was a young lady from Gränna / who her butt so hard could strain / that she in this hole / could strangle an eel / and even sharpen a pen)

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An example in Esperanto from Raymond Schwartz:

Related Topics:
Esperanto - Raymond Schwartz

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:Jen estis fra?lin' en Parizo;

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:?i dormis sen nokto?emizo,

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:feli?e ?i havis

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:- Kaj tio min ravis -

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:pi?amon en mia valizo.

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(There was a miss in Paris/she slept without a nightshirt/happily she has/and that delighted me/ pyjamas in my valise)

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The dodoitsu is a short sometimes comic Japanese poem known as a Japanese limerick.

Related Topics:
Dodoitsu - Comic - Japanese

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