A limerick is a short, funny poem with a very specific rhythm and rhyme pattern. Limericks have exactly five lines: the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, while the shorter third and fourth lines rhyme with each other. When you read a limerick out loud, it bounces along with a distinctive rhythm that makes it fun to recite.

Here's a famous example:

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, “It is just as I feared!”

Two Owls and a Hen,

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!

Notice how “beard,” “feared,” and “beard” rhyme, while “Hen” and “Wren” rhyme with each other. Limericks often tell silly little stories or make jokes, and many of them start with “There was a...” or “There once was a...”

The limerick form became popular in the 1800s and gets its name from the city of Limerick in Ireland. Writers love limericks because they're short enough to write quickly but tricky enough to be satisfying. The strict rules about rhythm and rhyme make composing a good limerick a fun challenge, like solving a puzzle with words.