My limericks

[Valentino, Russell]

Yes, these chains get confusing. The discretion comment wasn't mine. I think it was from R. M. Cleminson, who also commented on the non-perfection of your rhymes! They seem pretty perfect to my Californian-Midwestern ear. And yes, I agree that limericks that have irregular meter or imperfect rhyme tend to fall flat.

Russell

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Charles E. Townsend
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 12:01 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] My limericks

Dear Russell,

I can't tell from the below who wrote about my maintaining a discreet silence, but that's not so at all.  I haven't been asked about any of this, as far as I know, though my handling of electronic matters is so poor I may have missed something.  I don't really know anything about the science of limericks, whatever that is; I just write them for fun.  
I do try for perfect rhyme and decent meter; isn't that what you're supposed to do?

Best regards,

Charlie Townsend

On 5/31/12 11:03 AM, Valentino, Russell wrote:
> Actually, I think the tendency in English language poetry over the past century has been for exact rhymes to be used for comic effect, especially in short poems, while slant rhymes, sight rhymes, and other more dissonant variations are used, when there is rhyme at all, for more serious purposes. It's a constant topic among translators of poetry.
>
> Russell Valentino
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic&  East European Languages and Literatures list 
> [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of R. M. Cleminson
> Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 8:04 AM
> To:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] My limericks
>
> This discussion seems to be predicated on the assumption that Professor Townsend intends his limericks to have perfect rhymes.  He is maintaining a discreet silence, but this may not be the case.  The not-quite rhyme is often used for comic effect, and there are precedents in the work of the Master himself, Edward Lear, for example (I quote from memory):
>
>   There once was a man who said "Hush!
>   I perceive a young bird in this bush."
>   When they asked "Is is small?"
>   He replied "Not at all:
>   It is four times as big as the bush."
>
> ----- Pôvodná správa -----
> Od: "Robert Orr"<colkitto at ROGERS.COM>
> Komu:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> Odoslané: štvrtok, 31. máj 2012 4:28:37
> Predmet: Re: [SEELANGS] My limericks
>
> 
> " Let's all join the chorus "
> " For our fabled Horace "
>
> how many people rhyme "chorus" and "Horace"?

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