Funny Poems

Definition: Funny poems are the wierd and wonderful poems that mix humor with verse to produce some sort of funky hybrid between a joke and a poem...

Also, a common form of funny poetry can be found in 'limericks' which are short, usually humorous ribald poems with a specific structure.

Some of the best funny love poems are limericks. Limericks started in Ireland and follow a standard form of five lines and a rhyme scheme of aabba. Here are a few limericks written by anonymous authors:

There once was an old man of Lyme
Who married three wives at a time
When asked "Why a third?"
He replied, "One's absurd!
And bigamy, Sir, is a crime."

There was a young fellow named Hammer
Whose had an unfortunate stammer
"The b-bane of my life"
Said he, "Is m-m-my wife
D-d-d-d-d-d-damn ‘er!"

She made friends with a young undertaker;
Her last boyfriend had forsaken her.
But she started to curse
When he turned up in a hearse.
She said next time I’ll date a baker!

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Limericks are lighthearted and sometimes damn funny.

You can practice writing your own limericks.

A Limerick is a humorous poem with 5 lines and has a very specific rhythm and rhyming pattern.

In the traditional way of writing limericks, the first line of the poem introduces a person AND a location.  And the last line usually ends with the name of the location, though sometimes with that of the person.

A true limerick is supposed to have a kind of twist to it. This may lie in the final line, as sort of a suprise conclusion (often with humor, like a punch line) or it may lie in the way that the rhymes sound ntentionally twisted, or it may be both of these factors!

The Rhyming Pattern:

The last words of the 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines all rhyme with each other.

And the last words of the 3rd and 4th lines rhyme with eachother

The Rhythm Pattern:

The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines all have the rhythm pattern:
da DUM da da DUM da da DUM

The 3rd and 4th lines have a slightly different rythm that is:
da DUM da da DUM

The 'DUM' word represents a place where the syllable is stressed...and 'da' represents a regular word, spoken without stressing it.

So, to conclude: When composing a limerick, make sure that the rhyme pattern of aabba and that the rhythm patter is as listed above, with stresses on the proper syllables.

To see if your limerick works, you can match it up to a limerick that you know has correct form.

Example:

There once was a farmer named John
Who leaned on his pitchfork and yawned
"This haybailing no doubt
Is tiring me out"
The next day that pitchfork was pawned.

It doesn't have to match exactly in terms of syllables like a haiku...but generally, the places where syllables are stressed should match.

Good luck...and I like Limericks so much that I have created a forum area especially for limericks...click here to visit the limerick forum.

And if you need to find words that rhyme, check out this webpage at
www.rhymezone.com where you can enter a word and find a word that rhymes.

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These pages also have funny poems:

http://www.funnypoets.com/funnypoems.html

http://www.funnypoetry.com/

There is some funny haiku poetry about computers on this page:
http://www.funnypoetry.com/haikuerror.htm

If you want to learn how to become funnier, it is definitely a good skill to have!

Other places online where you can find funny poems
(or check our links directory)

Are you creating your own funny poem?

Try these thesaurus words for inspiration:

Funny:

humorous
hilarious
amusing
comical
comic
droll
witty
odd
quaint
weird
peculiar
unexpected
unusual
pun
witticism
gag
jest
entertaining
jokey
tongue in cheek
side-splitting
uproarious
riotous
mirthful
laughable
clown
slapstick comedian
wit
humorist
clever
sharp
bizarre
outlandish
eccentric
weird and wonderful
idiosyncratic
tall story
yarn
tale
trick
practical joke
hoax
prank
tease
kid
pull somebody's leg
jibe
wisecrack
one-liner
clever remark
retort
quip
banter