Thicker Than They Looked

The Scheming

This charming young fellow named "Pound"
Once was given a big run-around.
He let them know quick
He could shake a big stick,
And all their thick schemes run aground!

Qwerty is Queerer?

To Play the Typewriter

Oh, "qwerty" was  the queerest word young Extra Pound had found,
Excepting the word "queerest" with its even queerer sound,
But that just meant
That "queerer" went
Where than them all, all queerer were around.

Fear

Bestridden

There once was a creature called "Pound,"
Which emitted a curious sound.
If we stood near to hear
We were warned of what fear
Might bestride us and ride us unbound!

Pre-Modern Limerick?

Mere Limerick?

"May peace be unto thee," saith cordial Pound,
"Though too oft hast thou set me up, that I clowned,
When I ought to have grieved,
Ought great sighs to have up-heaved,
Not mimed silence, where one expected sound!"

King of the Poets

King of Poets

This amazing young fellow named "Pound,"
Came up with poetic new sound,
Which he called "Imagism,"
But others, "Modernism,"
And thus was he King Poet crowned.

Pound in Paradise

Pound in Paradise

From babe unto lad as from tadpole to toad,
Pound grew up fast on the Paradise Road.
He learned to expound
and how to confound,
Which both come in handy if need be to goad.

Enter: Extra Pound

Extra Pound: The Baby

There once was a baby named "Pound,"
Who grew up to go pal around
With far-right-wing reds
So out of their heads
They knew not their ass from a hole in the ground!

Extra Pound: A Fictive Pound

I think that from now on (and retroactively), "Pound" will be "Extra Pound," a satirical reference to "Ezra Pound," but always fictive, of course:

Extra Pound

There once was a "Pound" known as "Extra,"
Who was found to live only in textra,
Which unfortunately
Exist only for fee,
In the reel unreal world known as Sextra!

Such distraction in this place we're placed in . . .

Again a Fictive Ezra Pound

Extra Pound

Pound gazed on his body one day,
Found himself in the family way!
Truly strange was that Ding,
Not a woman's Unding,
Bringing forth in an unnatural way.

Though truly fictive, this character sketch using the limerick form works pretty well. One can hear the limerick beat. And pity the poor, unmentioned female hyena! You might also check a German dictionary.

An Ezra Pound or Two

Extra Pound

Pound gazed upon his body one fine day,
And found himself in a soon-famed family way,
Truly a strange, odd, weird peculiar thing,
With male ding hung, not woman's absent unding,
And he never-the-less gave birth the natural way.


Post-Script: I think this one doesn't work because it doesn't press the reader to submit to the limerick rhythm. Maybe I'll work on it. Anyway, this is obviously the 'fictive' Pound.

Thought Less

Modernism

There once was an Imagist poet,
Who thought, that of all, he could know it.
With axioms new,
But only a few,
His system had little for to show it.

Singing

Song of Himself

There once was a poet called "Pound,"
Who sang as he strode all around:
"For a pound or a dollar,
Get some action or holler."
And so went the song that he'd sound.

A Pound of Antisemitism

Antisemitic Pound

He hated the carnage of war
And asked what that war had been for.
He lay blame on usury,
By which he meant Jewry,
And thought the Great War a great whore.

Different Architectures

Different Walls

To wall people in was Berlin,
But Trump's Wall to the makeshift inn
In outer darkness lies
With inner darkness ties,
But to wall people in was Berlin.

Fascist Italy: Really on Time?

On Timepieces

There was a young fellow named Pound,
Who aged to be ancient but sound.
Despite such longevity,
He lacked the ability
To wind up what he'd left unwound.

Punny Limerick

POTUS

There once was a man name of "Clittongue,"
Who wished he were rather named "Littongue,"
For he'd then stalk the stage
In an animal rage,
Trippingly on feet and on tongue!

Incompleted

Skink's Tale

There was a young man in Nanticket,
Who said, "Where on earth shall I stick it?"
It's not what you thank,
You dirty-minded old skank!
But where in the hell did he git it?

Sick Example

Separation of Powers

Thou once wert a short lengthy limerick
That taught thyself lessons psychotic,
For that godawful notion
Of e-motive emotion
Moved thee firmly back into the thinly thick.

Thomas Somebody

Disregard

There was an odd fellow named Pynchon
Who sought to distract all attention
From himself unto others,
So if he'd had his druthers,
He'd have stayed in a state of oblivion!

Not Allowed

Disallowed

There was an odd fellow named "LOUD!"
Who could outshout a great thundercloud,
But lightning might strike him,
If it happen to like him,
So a contest was never allowed.

Grounded

High-Flyer?

There was a young fellow named "Pound,"
Who didn't completely astound,
When he uttered "Whatever,"
To poetic endeavor,
That didn't quite get off the ground.

Finally, Ilhan Omar Answers Our Questions!

Question 1: Did you marry your own brother?
Answer 1: Some people did something.


Question 2: Did you live with your current husband before marriage?
Answer 2: Some people did something.


Question 3: Did you recently start an affair with a married man?
Answer 3: Some people did something.

Question 4: Did you recently file for divorce?
Answer 4: Some people did something.

Thank you, Ms. Ilhan Omar, for your openness and transparency.

Ilhan Omar: "Some people did something."

Speaking of Transgressive: News Flash on Ilhan Omar:

Jim Spencer and Patrick Condon, staff writers for the Minneapolis newspaper the Star Tribune (August 28, 2019), tell us that Representative Ilhan Omar rejects accusations that she is having an affair. She specifically denies that she is separated or dating outside her marriage, and she refuses to speak any further about her family arrangements. Her denials are not entirely persuasive.

I guess she'd prefer that we just say, "Some people did something," and leave it at that.

The Limerick According to Wikipedia: Essentially Transgressive

According to the ever omniscient Wikipedia:

"The form [of the limerick] appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century.[4] It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century,[5] although he did not use the term. Gershon Legman, who compiled the largest and most scholarly anthology, held that the true limerick as a folk form is always obscene, and cites similar opinions by Arnold Bennett and George Bernard Shaw,[6] describing the clean limerick as a 'periodic fad and object of magazine contests, rarely rising above mediocrity.' From a folkloric point of view, the form is essentially transgressive; violation of taboo is part of its function."

There's a short quote within this block quote, as you can see, but who's being cited? Possibly Shaw, but probably Legman?

Ft. 4 See footnote 4 on Wikipedia.
Ft. 5 Brandreth, page 108.
Ft. 6 Legman 1988, pp. x-xi.

Footnotes 5 and 6 are also found in Wikipedia, as noted above.

Gyles Brandreth (1986). Everyman's Word Games.
Gershon Legman (1988). The Limerick, New York: Random House.

The two books given above seem to be the important ones for this blog entry. I'd be interested to know if any of my limericks are transgressive. Actually, I know several are. But are those that are not transgressive, then, also not limericks? That depends on what "transgressive" means.

Why Limericks?

Here's Why Limericks

The limerick genre of poetry is often used to offer an exaggerated depiction of some individual, so exaggerated that we can consider the individual a fictive individual, though there will be points of contact between the fictive individual in the limerick and the real individual outside the limerick.

No one should therefore take the fictive "Pound" of these limericks as the real "Pound" outside the limericks. They share some points, of course. The fictive "Pound" is described as a fascist and a traitor, and these two points are shared with the real "Pound." But the fictive "Pound" denounced as an "S.O.B. f**ker" in one of the limericks might bear no similarity to the real "Pound" outside that limerick.

Or as Edward Lear would say, "Such such is laugh."

Lattice Work

Spherical Miracle!

There once was a ninny named Pound,
Who was  made out of bricklets so round
That he thought each all-spherical
Were somewhat a miracle,
Each stuck to each other all 'round.

Such such is laugh . . .

Limerick Greetings

Hello! Hello!

There once was a fellow named "Pound,"
Whose health was uncommonly sound.
But he stumbled pell-mell
Down a hole straight to hell!
One would hope such a trip were a-round.

Limerick: Do it!

Strange Imperative!

There once was a poet called "Pound,"
Whose name had imperative sound.
You doubtless did feel it,
Though churn-try conceal it,
That butter-sweet substance unbound!

Not even I know what this limerick is referring to . . .

Limerick Vow

Honor Bound?

There once was a poet named "Pound,"
But whether that meant on the ground,
Or of weight or of money,
I can't tell you, honey,
For this tongue-twisting knot has me bound!

A Finished S.O.B.?

This one is slightly altered from the previous one:

The S.O.B. Pound

There once was a poet named "Pound,"
Who a tad too much brutal was found.
He called himself fascist,
And he was the nastiest
Little S.O.B. f**ker around.

That ought to resolve the "brutal" judgement, no?

Limerick S.O.B. goes again

This is slightly altered from yesterday's aversion:

The S.O.B. Pound

There once was a poet named "Pound,"
Who exceedingly brutal was found.
He called himself fascist,
And he was the nastiest
Little S.O.B. f**ker around.

Perhaps too much on the "brutal" judgement?