Limerick: There was an Old Man in a boat

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, 'I'm afloat! I'm afloat!'
When they said, 'No! you aint!'
He was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

10 sec read
139

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAABA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 158
Words 36
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5

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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