A short sometimes bawdy, humorous poem of consisting of five lines. The beat consists of three syllables, two short followed by one long in quantitative meter, and two unstressed followed by one stressed in accentual meter, as in "for the nonce". lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 of a Limerick have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other Line 1, 2, 5: ta-ta-tum ta-ta-tum ta-ta-tum ta or ta-ta-tum ta-ta-tum ta Line 3, 4: ta-ta-tum ta-ta-tum ta or ta-ta-tum ta-ta |