Friday, March 23, 2012

A Limerick



Image: Courtesy of d'Verse

I like to write verse and create
I like to tempt luck and obviate
A humdrum
Of a likely fun
Just to provoke and tease fate


Submitted for d'Verse FormForAll - Limerick

21 comments:

  1. Oh, Hank, you're getting SO close with your limericks. And they have good messages.
    But you have to carefully count the number of beats (or syllables) to a line. Eight is a good number for the first two lines, plus the last line, and four, five or even six for the second couplet.
    I now have a dear friend named Hank (8)
    His determination I thank (8)
    A lim'rick he'll write (5)
    But not count it right (5)
    So he's not yet in the top rank (8)
    Keep it up, my friend, because I can see you enjoy writing them, and soon they'll become second nature to you.
    All the best,
    K

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  2. The limericks of yesterday were fate
    We peaked a bit then opened the gate
    Oh what fun
    To escape the hum drum
    Without us putting on weight

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  3. Thank you for linking and writing. I have trouble with this counting thing too. Sometimes they feel right without being quite right for me. It's probably best as Madeleine said in the article to clap to the stressed beats after you write one and see if you have enough to the line, the unstressed will take care of themselves. This was a fine attempt. Yay!

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  4. The limerick's so hard to scan.
    I'm quite sympathetic, I am;
    But when you get it right
    It can go on all night,
    And that form will be yours to command.

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  5. ha i write to provoke and tease as well when i write...nice use of obviate as well...

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  6. Kay Ma'am,
    I took your lead given previously by reducing the no.of words for a start. That I thought would take care of the syllables, but just.I didn't count them that's why! Would have to write more limericks after this. Have to bid for the top rank, certainly.

    Thanks,Kay,for taking the time!

    Hank

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  7. Oh yes provoking is quite fun and it just must be done!

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  8. Fun verse, Kaykuala!

    But regarding the discussion about counting syllables per line, DON'T! The articles that tell you to count syllables per line are over-simplifying and misleading you. The key is in the stressed and unstressed syllables, as I said in my article. You can have the so-called right number of syllables in a line, but if the stresses are in the wrong place, the meter will still be off.

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  9. ha nice...writing to provoke and get the people thinking is a good thing i think..smiles

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  10. Madeleine Ma'am.
    Gosh! All these while I made it such that I felt nice when I re-read the limerick that I created. It appears to be that technical going by your article. Would have to go back and understand better the stresses and meters.
    Thanks a lot,Ma'am!

    Hank

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  11. stress and meter often baffle me. It gets better with practice, though I may never perfect it, and that's ok. Enjoyed this one Hank.

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  12. It's a fun write, anyway, Hank! And very close to the correct scansion.

    I like to count stresses thus: ./././ with dots fir unstressed, slashes for stressed syllables. So yours goes:

    ./../../
    ./../././
    .//
    .././
    /.././

    Now you can see where it doesn't work. :)

    (I also count stresses on my fingers, one finger per each heavy beat. I think a lot of us do that!)

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  13. Rosemary,that's wonderful! Now it is much clearer when graphically shown.
    Thanks a lot, Ma'am!

    Hank

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  14. Great limerick, Hank. Sorry about the late visit, I am swamped with work.

    Pamela

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  15. Great job! We are all trying to do exactly what your poem describes. K.

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  16. so, did it work, did you provoke fate with your limerick? were there consequences?

    cricket senryu

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  17. Clever..!!!
    Beautifully crafted :)
    Happy Sunday :)

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