Analysis of Limerick: There was an Old Man in a boat
Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)
There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, 'I'm afloat! I'm afloat!'
When they said, 'No! you aint!'
He was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.
| Scheme | AAABA |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Tetractys (40%) Cinquain (20%) |
| Metre | 11111001 11101101 111111 111011 101011001 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 158 |
| Words | 36 |
| Sentences | 6 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 5 |
| Lines Amount | 5 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
| Words per line (avg) | 6 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 16, 2023
- 10 sec read
- 141 Views
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"Limerick: There was an Old Man in a boat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9670/limerick%3A-there-was-an-old-man-in-a-boat>.
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