Posted May 17, 2020 by Svitlana Misc

Limericks by Edward Lear

Limericks are funny, amusing and merry rhymes loved both by children and adults. Read about limericks and nonsense literature in the There was once a … limerick.

Edward Lear’s limericks mentioned below will raise your mood and make you amused as well as inspire you to write one yourself.

There was an Old Man on whose nose
Most birds of the air could repose;
But they all flew away at the closing of day,
Which relieved that Old Man and his nose.

There was an Old Man of Peru
Who never knew what he should do;
So he sat on a chair and behaved liked a bear,
That unhappy Old Man of Peru.

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 Lady of France,
Who taught little Ducklings to dance;
When she said: ”Tick-a-tack!”, they only said, ”Quack!”,
Which grieved that Old Lady of France.

There was an Old Man of Berlin,
Whose form was uncommonly thin,
Till he once, by mistake, was mixed up in a cake,
So they baked the old man of Berlin.

There was a Young Lady of Bute,
Who played on a silver-gilt flute;
She played several jigs to her Uncle’s white Pigs,
That amusing Young Lady of Bute.

There was an Old Person of Rheims,
Who was troubled by horrible dreams;
So to keep him awake they fed him with cake,
That afflicted Old Person of Rheims!

There was an Old Person of Dover,
Who rushed through a field of blue clover;
But some very large bees stung his nose and his knees,
So he very soon went back to Dover.

There was an Old Lady of Chertsey,
Who made a remarkable curtsey;
She twirled round and round, till she sank underground,
Which distressed all the people of Chertsey.

There was a Young Lady of Hull,
Who was chased by a virulent Bull;
But she seized on a spade, and called out, ‘Who’s afraid?’
which distracted that virulent Bull.

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 Man of Aosta,
Who possessed a large cow, but he lost her;
But they said: ‘Don’t you see she has rushed up a tree?
You invidious Old Man of Aosta!’

There was an Old Man with a nose,
Who said, ‘If you choose to suppose,
That my nose is too long, you are certainly wrong!’
That remarkable Man with a nose.

There was an Old Man on a hill,
Who seldom, if ever, stood still;
He ran up and down in his Grandmother’s gown,
Which adorned that Old Man on a hill.

There was an Old Person of Chili,
Whose conduct was painful and silly,
He sate on the stairs, eating apples and pears,
That imprudent Old Person of Chili.

There was a Young Lady of Dorking,
Who bought a large bonnet for walking;
But its colour and size so bedazzled her eyes,
That she very soon went back to Dorking.

There was an Old Man with a gong,
Who bumped at it all day long;
But they called out, ‘O law! You’re a horrid old bore!’
So they smashed that Old Man with a gong.

There was an Old Lady of Chertsey,
Who made a remarkable curtsey;
She twirled round and round,
Till she sunk underground,
Which distressed all the people of Chertsey.

There was an Old Man of Dumbree,
Who taught little owls to drink tea;
For he said, ”To eat mice is not proper or nice,”
That amiable Man of Dumbree.

There was an Old Man with a flute,
A ”sarpint” ran into his boot;
But he played day and night till the ”sarpint” took flight,
And avoided that man with a flute.

There was a Young Lady whose chin,
Resembled the point of a pin;
So she had it made sharp and purchased a harp,
And played several tunes with her chin.

There was an Old Person of Tring,
Who embellished his nose with a ring;
He gazed at the moon every evening in June,
That ecstatic Old Person of Tring.

There was an Old Person of Leeds,
Whose head was infested with beads;
She sat on a stool,
And ate gooseberry fool,
Which agreed with that person of Leeds

There was an Old Person of Hurst,
Who drank when he was not athirst;
When they said, ”You’ll grow fatter,” He answered, ”What matter?”
That globular Person of Hurst.

There was an Old Man who made bold
To affirm that the weather was cold;
So he ran up and down, in his grandmother’s gown,
Which was woollen, and not very old.

There was a Young Lady whose bonnet,
Came untied when the birds sate upon it;
But she said: ‘I don’t care! All the birds in the air
Are welcome to sit on my bonnet!’

There was an Old Man of Kilkenny,
Who never had more than a penny;
He spent all that money in onions and honey,
That wayward Old Man of Kilkenny.

There was an Old Person of Anerley,
Whose conduct was strange and unmannerly;
He rushed down the Strand with a Pig in each hand,
But returned in the evening to Anerley.

There was an Old Person of Ischia,
Whose conduct grew friskier and friskier;
He dance hornpipes and jigs, and ate thousands of figs,
That lively Old Person of Ischia

There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, ”I’m afloat, I’m afloat!”
When they said, ”No! you ain’t!” he was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.

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!’

There was a Young Lady of Portugal,
Whose ideas were excessively nautical;
She climbed up a tree to examine the sea,
But declared she would never leave Portugal.

There was a Young Lady of Ryde,
Whose shoe-strings were seldom untied.
She purchased some clogs, and some small spotted dogs,
And frequently walked about Ryde.

There was an Old Man in a tree,
Who was horribly bored by a Bee;
When they said, ”Does it buzz?” He replied, ”Yes, it does!’
It’s a regular brute of a Bee!”