Analysis of Limerick:There was an Old Person of Tartary

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Person of Tartary,
Who divided his jugular artery;
But he screeched to his wife,
And she said, 'Oh, my life!
Your death will be felt by all Tartary!'


Scheme AABBA
Poetic Form Limerick  (80%)
Tetractys  (40%)
Cinquain  (20%)
Metre 11111011 10101100100 111111 011111 11111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 170
Words 35
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 126
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

10 sec read
54

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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