Top o’ the morning to you! In celebration of this auspicious day, I — Jake McDog — thought Id bring some culture to Dogster, and discuss limericks. Theres debate about where limericks originated, but since some scholars think limericks had their roots in 18th-century Ireland, its a good enough excuse for me to write about them today.
Limericks are my favorite form of poetry. Thats because theyre usually silly, sometimes baudy, and theyre pretty easy to write. They follow the rhyming order, AABBA. Thats one of my favorite Swedish pop music groups from the last century, so it really resonates with me.
Edward Lear wrote hundreds of limericks in 19th-century England. Hes generally attributed with popularizing limericks. He even wrote at least one about a dog:
There was an old man of Ancona,
Who found a small dog with no owner,
Which he took up and down,
All the streets of the town;
That anxious old man of Ancona.
That doesnt seem silly or baudy, actually. Hmm, it actually looks like Edward was getting a little tired of writing limericks when he came to that one.
There arent a lot of G or PG-rated dog limericks out there, as I see from an internet search. I am positively blushing from reading some of them. So because it is a special day, I will write one just for my Dogster friends.
There once was a Lab from Frisco
Who cooked with lots of Crisco
The grease made him slide
Made him jumpy inside
So he opened his very own disco
(And they played a lot of ABBA!) Did you know that limerick is about me? Im from Frisco, which they hate hearing it called here in San Francisco. And once I got into a friends Crisco container. This limierick could be an autobiography, except I didnt open a disco. But if I had, it would play Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia all the time!
Speaking of Crisco, Im waxing poetic, so Ill write another limerick. Hows this one?
A genial genius named Jake
Decided to eat a big steak
It took me all day
But the steak went away
And now I cannot stay awake
Maria says that one doesnt work because I shouldnt have the first person mixed with the third person. I have no idea what shes talking about. There are no people in this poem. Only me and part of a cow.
Well Dogsters, now its your turn! If youre feeling about Lear-y, try your paw at a dog limerick. Leave your original G or PG-rated dog limerick in the Comments for everyone to see.
(Snow Angel’s page can be found here. She is a real sweetie. If you don’t already know her, you should.)
