Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-05-30
LIMERICK REVIVAL HAS
DEVELOPED MANY WITS
american and English Newspapers
Responsible for Thousands OF
lmitators of Edward Lear.
ny n. Il. BABCOCK.

ny n. Il. BABCOCK.
Edward Lear may not have been
Tho first person to construct non
sense rhymes In tho form known to
us as tho limerick" but no unqucs-
tionably gave to that style OF verse
ularity that has waned from time to
during the last few months.
periodienis on 10Th n sTes ~ tho ana an,
iantic have of late been inviting
I nroi readers to join with them in the
stand comparison with those written
by Lear for tho entertainment OF
young folks while he was a tutor
~ Ia, the family OF the Earl of Derby in
American newspapers in the sew
eral large cities where limerick fever
has ragged. have stimulated ''poetical"
ambition through the Offering of lib
charged to contestants, but In Lon
don the ambitious imitator OF Ed
cal Offering with small amount OF
cash In order to have II considered.
The result on both continents has
been. presumably. the construction OF
were they posted together. quite
around the globe. Imagining sucn Il
strip to exist. II is probable at in
tervals OF every mile or so. one would
come upon Jingle worth pausing TO
read.
a necessary variety was len. to
altering the form OF the old-time lin
erick pattern az to demand a new
rhyme for the NTH line in place OF a
repetition OF either OF the rhyming
words used in lines one and two.
Early Variety of the Limerick.
geographical flavor was charac-
teris,ic OF Lear's earliest essays at
verse. For example:
T wsa o MAS ,s an old person o, Tat,ary
when up came his wife;
how your ssli's' WIN 10 be- ny fsit through all
remember very distinctly that
THIS form OF limerick was popular in
the early seventies. Persons We'd with
one another in efforts to find rhymes
for the most unusual and out-of-the-
way localities. as. for example. this
one which has stuck In my mind all
these years:
TT hcE wa, an old man from Andro.eoErIn.
I'VE mus, hcv q sIEh, o IT,
Said ;h. s' Spaiou. t ken. tf R,sH Andlo.-
coEE!n.
or course. as said above. there
would be scant room for variety
among contestants for limerick
prizes. II n third rhyme were not al
lowed in the longer o; the I'VE ana
pestic lines. AT best. there IL but a
limited number OF rhymes for any
in contests where thousands Of per-
sons take part, the judges are able
to make decisions.
Where Writer'S Make Their Mistnkes.
a friend attached to one OF the
newspapers engaged in such contest,
First that fully oue-half OF the Of
forings sent In by readers can be dis
carried at once because OF defective
rhymes. Words that seem TO sound
alike. but don't. are the chief STUN
bling blocks. In one case" said he.
where the missing last line called
for a word rhymins with dine and
ing In time and almost as many end
inG in dime or prime or course.
those went into the waste basket al
handwriting In many instances would
indicate that they had been sent in
by. persons OF education"
Another thing that simplihed the
jority OF readers to follow what
seemed the obvious rather than TO
Jingle the first four lines OF which
prcsagcd what Babe" Ruth might
do to the ball the ilrst time he went
rhyme were Ruth" and "forsooth"
two-th!rds of the lines received. read:
knock. whack or smash IL way out
TO Duluth" II was not difficult he
said. to award the prize to line
which read: "lie will prove Newton's
law an untruth."
LimcrIckx Stimulate Wits.
Clearly thought had been put into
the effort OF this limerickcr and 10
judge from this example, and many
others of which he told me, these
limerick contests are stimulation
OF wit. Doubtless II Is more DIM
cult TO furnish bright. clever line
as climax to what some one else has
written. than to manufacture fetch
ing verse in It's entirety. Either,
however. is good and harmless
amusement for an idle moment.
And there have been great many
clever limericks written since the
days OF Edward Lear. To my mind
few have ever been heater than the
following7
said once very famous old preacher
and the hen. Just for that.
Laid an egg In his hat.
And thus did the Henry Ward Beecher.
Its age and consequent probability
OF being forgotten, must be my eX-
for nffcrinp n