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Humorous poetry can take any form but some, like limericks, chastushkas, and clerihews, are used exclusively for comedy. Limericks are the most recognized, with five lines and an AABBA rhyme pattern. Chastushkas are more abrupt and adult-oriented, while clerihews use irregular line structures. Double dactyls are often used to open humorous poems with pairs of nonsense words. Themes are whimsical, absurd, and satirical.
Funny poetry can exist in any form or measure of poetry, as long as the subject matter or tone of the poem is humorous. Several types, however, are used almost exclusively for comedic purposes. The most popular are limerick, chastushka and clerihew. A specific type of double dactyl is often used at the beginning of humorous lines, often referred to as a “messy piggledy”. Themes in humorous poetry are usually whimsical and absurd, often serving to tell a story, make an amusing observation, or satirize people, places, and events.
The limerick is the most recognized type of humorous poem, due to both the number of poems produced in the form and its unique structure. A limerick consists of five lines with an AABBA rhyme pattern. Lines are typically written in anapestic metric, in which two short unstressed syllables are followed by a longer, emphasized one. Limerick can also be written in amfibrachic metre, in which a stressed syllable is flanked by an unstressed one; both anapaestic and amphibrachic meters give the poem a light lyrical quality when delivered. Popular limericks include “Once Upon a Man from Nantucket” and the examples found in Edward Lear’s “Book of Nonsense”.
Chastushkis, on the other hand, are typically more abrupt than limericks; the humorous poetry form gets its name from “chastit,” which means “to speak quickly” when translated from Russian. A chastushka consists of four simple lines that follow one of three main rhyme schemes: AABB, ABAB or ABCB. Chastushkis are generally considered to be more adult-oriented than limericks, with much of the humor coming from political satire and obscenities.
Clerihew is one of the more unconventional forms of humorous poetry, using irregular line structures as part of its humour. The poems are typically biographical, with the first line mentioning or consisting solely of the subject’s name. A typical cleric’s rhyme pattern is AABB, with abrupt shifts of meter between lines that undo the rhythm of the poem.
Although a dactyl usually corresponds to any metrical foot consisting of one stressed and two unstressed syllables, two dactyls used in succession are often used to open humorous poems. These double dactyls usually consist of pairs of nonsense words like “higgledy piggledy” or “hankety pankety” and serve to set a whimsical tone for the rest of the poem. Double dactyls consist of two four-line stanzas, with rhymes in the last words of each fourth line.
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