Analysis of Limerick:There was an Old Man, on whose nose

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Man, on whose nose,
Most birds of the air could repose;
But they all flew away
At the closing of day,
Which relieved that Old Man and his nose.


Scheme AABBA
Poetic Form Limerick 
Metre 11111111 11101101 111101 101011 101111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 164
Words 35
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 123
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

10 sec read
51

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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