Limerick

"There once was a fat old squirrel
Who went by the name of Earl
He ran all around
Putting nuts in the ground
But that never got him a girl."

          Limerick is a silly form. I have no earthly idea where it's from; maybe Limerick, Ireland? Wherever it's from, the Limerick is an interesting piece.
          Limerick verse has several rules that make this form one of the hardest to master. Here they are:

• Rule One: A limerick has five lines.
• Rule Two: The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines are (relatively) long. 

There once was a fat old squirrel
Who went by the name of Earl....
....But that never got him a girl.

• Rule Three: The 3rd and 4th lines are (kind of) shorter.

....He ran all around
Putting nuts in the ground....

• Rule Four: The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines must rhyme. *Note: The first and last line may have the same last word.

....squirrel....
....Earl....
....girl....

• Rule Five: The 3rd and 4th lines must rhyme.

....around....
....ground....

• Rule Six (the hardest): Limericks must follow a certain rhythm. *Note: This isn't so much a rule as suggestion for how to make your limerick sound better.

There once was a fat old squirrel
That went by the name of Earl.
He ran all around
Putting nuts in the ground
But that never got him a girl.

(Mine does not fit the meter perfectly. That's okay.)

*This certain rhythm is called meter, and each little grouping of stressed and unstressed syllables is called a foot. (I just now realized those are both terms of measurement. Weird.) There are two types of feet used in limerick meter: the iamb (pronounced "I am") and the anapest. The iamb goes, "unstressed, stressed" and the anapest goes, "unstressed, unstressed, stressed." (For more, see the page on the basics of poetry.) So limerick meter is:

Iamb, anapest, anapest,

iamb, anapest, anapest,

iamb, anapest,

iamb, anapest,

iamb, anapest, anapest.