Hip hip hooray, it's Limerick Day!
"There was an Old Man with a Beard" by Edward Lear
May 12 is Limerick Day, a celebration of Edward Lear (a.k.a. the Limerick Laureate) and the many witty lines he inspired.
According to LiteraryDevices.net, a limerick is:
A comic verse, containing five anapestic (unstressed/unstressed/stressed) lines in which the first, second and fifth lines are longer, rhyme together and follow three metrical feet, while the third and fourth lines rhyme together, are shorter and follow two metrical feet. However, sometimes it may vary and amphibrachic (unstressed/stressed/unstressed) form can replace anapestic.
Or, in a nutshell, it's "a bawdy, humorous, or nonsensical verse written in the form of five anapests with aabba rhyme scheme."
To render homage to Lear and his confederates, here is a limerick by Concordia's own David McGimpsey, a part-time faculty member in the Department of English.
His timeless reflection about the Habs was written in 2015, but could've easily been inspired by the dearth of Canadian teams in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs...
Off-Season Limerick
By David McGimpsey
Some say the Habs need skaters who can hit
Some say they need a free agent who fits
But it’s easy to remember
That least until September
Nobody really gives a shit
Read more of David McGimpsey's poetry and find out about creative writing at Concordia. You can also follow the #LimerickDay conversation on Twitter.