Limericks

Young Lady of Poole

There was a Young Lady of Poole,
Whose soup was excessively cool;
So she put it to boil,
By the aid of some oil,
That ingenious Young Lady of Poole.

There was an Old Person from Prague,
Who was sudenly seized with the plague;
But they gave him some butter,
Which caused him to mutter,
And cured that Old Person of Prague.

There was an Old Man of the North,
Who fell into a basin of broth;
But a laudable cook,
Fished him out with a hook,
Which saved that Old Man of the North.

There was an Old Person of Mold,
Who shrank from sensations of cold;
So he purchased some muffs,
Some furs and some fluffs,
And wrapped himself from the cold.


The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey,
and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.

The Owl look up the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pusy, my love,
What a beautiful pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
Contemporary Ilustrator: Donna L. Derstine
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married;
to long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
"Dear Pig, are you wiling to sel for one shilling
Your ring? "Said the Pigy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on minced and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoons;

And hand in hand on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.


Old Man of Corfu

There was an Old Man of Corfu,
Who never knew what he should do;
So he rushed up and down,
Til the sun made him brown,
That bewildered Old Man of Corfu.

There was an OLd Man of the South,
Who had an immoderate mouth;
But in swallowing a dish,
That was quite full of fish,
He was choked, that Old Man of the South.

There was an Old Man of the Nile,
Who sharpened his nails with file;
Till he cut off his thumbs,
And said calmly, "This comes--
Of sharpening one's nails with a file!"

There was an Old Person of Cromer,
Who stood on one leg to read Homer;
When he found he grew stiff,
He jumped over the cliff,
Which concluded that Person of Cromer.