Rhythm and Rhyme Schemes

…and the wonderful world of Limericks

Rhythm

• The pattern the words and syllables make

• “The beat”• Made up of unstressed and

stressed syllables• Unstressed syllables are marked

with a small “u” and stressed syllables are marked with a “/”

Iambs

• Also known as “feet”• One Iamb is one unstressed

syllable and one stressed syllable• NOT ALL RHYTHMS USE IAMBS!!!

Rhyme

• Words that have similar ending sounds

• Near rhymes usually have a similar vowel sound - orange & porridge

Rhyme Scheme

• The order in which the last word in each line of a stanza rhyme with other last words in each line of the stanza

• Marked by lower-cased letters (same letter=rhyming words)

Limericks

• Five-line poem• Humorous and usually crude• First published in Ireland in the

1840s• Rhythm: u//u//u// - u//u//u// - u//u/ -

u//u/ - u//u//u// OR u/uu/uu/ - u/uu/uu/ - u/uu/ - u/uu/ - u/uu/uu/

• Rhyme scheme: aabba

Hickory, Dikory, Dock

Hickory, dikory, dockThe mouse ran up the clockThe clock struck oneThe mouse ran downHickory, dikory, dock

Example 2There was an old man from Peru,u/uu/uu/who dreamed he was eating his shoe.u/uu/uu/He awoke in the nightu/uu/with a terrible fright,u/uu/and found out that it was quite true.u/uu/uu/

About A Certain Limerick Writer

A limerick writer of wonderu//u//u//Pens humor he brews from Down Under.u//u//u//When he sends a zingeru//u//His joke seems to lingeru//u//Exploding like lightening and thunder.u//u//u//