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

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Man of the Wrekin
Whose shoes made a horrible creaking
But they said, 'Tell us whether,
Your shoes are of leather,
Or of what, you Old Man of the Wrekin?'


Scheme ABCCA
Poetic Form Tetractys  (40%)
Cinquain  (20%)
Metre 11111101 111010010 1111110 111110 111111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 175
Words 37
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 131
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

10 sec read
119

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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