Analysis of Limerick: There was an Old Man of the South

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Man of the South,
Who had an immederate mouth;
But in swallowing a dish,
That was quite full of fish,
He was choked, that Old Man of the South.


Scheme AABBA
Poetic Form Limerick 
Metre 11111101 11111 1010001 111111 111111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 164
Words 35
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 122
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

10 sec read
41

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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    The repetition of vowel sounds is an example of _______.
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