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Chargement... More Limerickspar Gershon Legman
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)821.08Literature English English poetry English poetry {by more than one author} [Collections of English poetry not limited by time period or kind of form now in 821.008]Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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In the introduction to his version of the song ‘Clementine’, Tom Lehrer posits that ‘the reason most folk songs are so atrocious is that they were written by the people’, and I suspect much the same applies to limericks. While there are a few gems where the writing shines and you actually laugh out loud, they are swamped by a lot of dross.
The problem is not that the limericks are crude – many would argue that that’s entirely the point of limericks – but rather that so many of them are only crude: if the use of a taboo word or the description of a taboo practice is in itself enough to tickle your ribs, then you’re in luck, but a reader of any sophistication might hope and expect to get actual humour: jokes and linguistic play to give the verses some heft. And that’s the extra layer that professional wordsmiths can add to comic verse: they first have an ear for the meter, knowing whether the rhythm works and having the skill to rework a line that doesn’t until it does. Then they also have a sense of comic timing, knowing which line(s) to put the set-up in and where to deliver the punchline for best effect.
I think taboo language is like seasoning: it can add piquancy to a bland meal if applied by someone with the necessary experience, but it carries little nutrition and you wouldn’t want to eat it on its own. ( )