FORMATTING THE LIMERICK - Suzette Richards's Blog

General: The deleted blog, Twist and Turn – the Dance of Poetry, dated 18 January, has now been replaced with the following article:

Glossaries of Some Common Poetic Devices | PoetrySoup.com

[Edit] Please read my contest description with attention. It is about having fun! To reiterate: Limericks need to be read out loud ... The printing format is only applicable where it is required in the printed media (obviously) and should, therefore, not be an issue. My contest requirement sets it apart from other contest entries, and it would therefore minimise duplicate entries to similar contests. I welcome diversity and purpose written poems for my contests. As the contest sponsor I reserve the right to introduce elements of constrained writing as I see fit. Not to centre poems for entries is just one of my standard rules, in line with the PoetrySoup rule on formatting entries to make them easy to read. 

The following information was lost when I thought it prudent to purge some blogs. If the set requirement on my contest page regarding the formatting came as a surprise for some, I cannot be held accountable for this.  As I and others have often confirmed: It is up to each sponsor to run their contest as they see fit. Therefore, my PREMIERE CONTEST that was posted on 14 January was with only good intentions for everyone to have FUN – the main purpose, if you wish, of Limericks.

The following is additional information on Limericks that I have gleaned from trusty sources on the Internet, such as Wikipedia. Yes, you may disagree with me, and that is your prerogative. You are hereby encouraged to do your own research in all matters.

FORMATTING THE LIMERICK POEM

Regarding indentation, there are no strict rules for how to format limericks.

1. Indentation of lines 3 & 4:

This is what I am used to and also my contest requirement. The first example poem by the Evening Post has the standard indentation as called for in my contest (see the contest page for the link). Also, the example in the Wikipedia article on Limericks clearly shows this indentation. The picture below is from my deleted blog, Twist and Turn – the Dance of Poetry, dated 18 January 2024. (The other topics under discussion on that blog have been rewritten as an article: Glossary of some common poetic devices).

1. Indentation of lines 2 & 5:

A quick Internet search gave me the following information: Regarding indentation, there are no strict rules for how to format limericks. However, it is common to indent the second and fifth lines slightly to the right, as this helps to visually separate the rhyming lines from the rest of the poem. (Bing Internet result – 18/1/2024) This information was added to the design when I created the above picture (in a Publisher programme) where I included the screen print from Wikipedia.

2. The 3^rd and 4^th lines are written as one line:

This is often found in old publications and penny-rags (old scripts). For an example of this, see the Definition of Limerick here at PoetrySoup.

3. Centred on the page & flush left:

You are quite correct. … Limericks are typically not centred on the page but left justified, [i.e. flush with the left margin]. This is the search result for: “Limericks are never centered on the page”. These two options seem to be the preferred option of periodicals. The reason for this might be that it is a schlep to format each and every contest entry or their example poems, or the programmes they are using do not support indentation. As with posting poetry here on PoetrySoup, the print format does not hold the indentation unless you actually add 3 or more spaces in front of your lines to achieve this. This is also the case when you post something on Facebook: it doesn’t hold the indentation, even if you add the spaces before the text.

The above is a clear indication of not only is it important what you ask, but how you phrase your question when researching on the Internet. All this discussion over a Light Verse that I don’t often read anymore, but it was great fun during my college years.

Have fun!

Suzette