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Limerick: There was an Old Man who said, 'How

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)

There was an Old Man who said, 'How
Shall I flee from that horrible cow?
I will sit on this stile,
And continue to smile,
Which may soften the heart of that cow.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

10 sec read
72

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 166
Words 36
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Full analysis for Limerick: There was an Old Man who said, 'How »

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…

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    "Limerick: There was an Old Man who said, 'How" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 30 Mar. 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/9706/limerick:-there-was-an-old-man-who-said,-'how>.

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
    • A. Line break
    • B. Dithyramb
    • C. A turn
    • D. Enjambment