Analysis of Limerick: There was an Old Man of Peru

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Man of Peru,
Who never knew what he should do;
So he tore off his hair,
And behaved like a bear,
That intrinsic Old Man of Peru.


Scheme AABBA
Poetic Form Limerick 
Metre 11111101 11011111 111111 001101 101011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 149
Words 33
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 110
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

9 sec read
204

Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. more…

All Edward Lear poems | Edward Lear Books

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