Celebrate National Limerick Day

Bindy Bitterman | Image Courtesy of The Chicago Tribune

What do you call a person who writes limericks? Apparently there’s not a word for it, but if there were, a picture of Bindy Bitterman should be next to the definition of a writer of this clever poetry form.

A limerick is a five-line verse in which the first, second, and final lines end with the same rhyme, while the third and fourth shorter lines have their own rhyme. For example, Friends’ member and webmaster, Joanna Broussard, created this limerick for Bindy’s unpublished calendar post:

There once was a woman named Bindy,
Who enjoyed life like Mork and Mindy,
She’s here on this earth,
Making merry and mirth,
In the city that’s very much windy!

Image courtesy of Chicago Public Library

The earliest known example comes from the 11th century although Edward Lear, a famous British poet, and writer of literary nonsense, is widely considered the father of the limerick. Lear popularized the form in his A Book of Nonsense, which was published in 1846.

Bindy was planning to share some of her witty poems with you on National Limerick Day and teach you how to write limericks. But, alas, to keep everyone safe, we are postponing this program for a time when we can meet in person. Until then, Bindy whipped up this special limerick for you.

OMG, what a turn of the screw!
On May 12 I was going to see you
And teach you the five lines
Of limerick live lines
And suddenly — oh, boo hoo hoo!

So just like we’ve done overall
We’ll wait until summer or fall
In case you forget
We won’t! You can bet
Hasta luego, my friends, to you all!

Read more about Bindy in this Chicago Tribune article.