National Limerick Day

 National Limerick Day.

It is a day devoted to thinking of quirky rhyming couplets, whimsical poetry and the kind of simple, flowing prose that once dominated the school syllabus of many a classroom. Edward Lear, for he it was who once penned the Owl and the Pussycat, was a pleasant example of the way in which language can be utilised effectively and lyrically. We tend to forget those halcyon days when school libraries and municipal libraries always had a full and extensive variety of both Lear's masterpieces and limericks. For today is National Limerick Day. And you'll still be able to discover at least a whole shelf of Lear in your local library.

Ladies and Gentlemen. There you've said it now.  It's National Limerick Day. You're not going to withdraw the remark because limericks are essentially endearing, thought provoking, winningly descriptive and full of light hearted imagery. Most of us think of limericks as corny, cheesy plays on words that are never really remembered for any longer than they need to be. Lear's Runcible Spoon is almost a by word for limericks, runcible being a made up word to enhance the structure of the piece of verse. You either like or dislike it and it may just be an acquired taste for some.

It doesn't have to rhyme because poetry doesn't really require any kind of literary embellishment. You read it from your book of limericks and it's something you'd normally hear in some country pub or folk club when a few of the regulars just think the place could go with a good, old fashioned outburst of hearty laughter. The truth is of course that an evening of limerick telling is no longer as relevant or accessible as it should be particularly since the arrival of fruit machines, one armed bandits, dartboards and of course the snooker table. Limerick is now regarded as some arcane art form that used to be fashionable but only appeals to those lovers of poetry who think their mates will be suitably impressed with your knowledge of limericks. 

And that's very much the case with most poetry, be it classical or modern. It's misunderstood and misinterpreted by those who maintain that any kind of poetry does nothing for them and besides what's the point of limericks, fairy tales, or word pictures on a page that evoke nothing but magic? We may have uttered limericks without so much as a moment of  self awareness. We may have stumbled over some familiar sounding limerick that brought a wry smile to our face and never known why. So that was the reason Edward Lear thought of the Owl and Pussycat. He wanted to do something completely original with the English language and did so both successfully and impressively.

In an age when the written word on an A4 piece of paper has become more or less obsolete, limericks have always remained firmly ensconced on our minds. And yet there are times when the conversation naturally turns away from the subject of limericks because dinner table discourse finds something far more entertaining and important to relate to. Edward Lear was the pioneer of limericks with expressions of simplicity, honesty and infectious humour. 

So if you've got a spare moment or two in your busy schedule on a Sunday afternoon you may want to consult your notebook and jot down a word or two, even several verses of prose that remind you perhaps of your cherishable childhood. We may have casually referred to the Owl and the Pussycat and other literary gems that made you giggle and guffaw under your breath. At times limericks may be metaphors, something precious in our lives such as life itself or something we may have overheard at some festival of literature. Poetic description may have been the ultimate answer to an apparently insurmountable question that may or may not have needed to be solved. But Happy National Limerick Day to you all. Oh yes, the Owl and the Pussycat did go to the sea in a pea green boat.