Friggity friggity!
MacRaith and O’ Tuama:
poets incessant and
blabbering bores.
Publican served insults –
flibbertigibbeting.
Rhetoric ingrained dull;
flyting supreme!
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The limerick is an English comedic five-line poem. The form could be found in England as far back as the early part of the 18th-century. It is thought to be derived from the Maigue Poets of Croom, County Limerick (depicted here). When the two erstwhile friends, Sean O’ Tuama and Andrias MacRaith, had a falling out they started trading insults (in rhyme format), ie flyting.
LEXICON
flibbertigibbeting: frivolous, flighty, or excessively talk.
Flyting or fliting is a contest consisting of the exchange of insults between two parties, often conducted in verse.
The falcons glide out of my heart,
Sipping my last crimson water and indigo tears.
Soar to the empty world, very ravenous,
They yearn to taste the fiery heat of skies.
The falcons dance their Tango.
Flapping wings in joy, fliting with the woeful soil,
Never know when to end;
Hymns of winter, audible as they sing.
The falcons, on holy ground,
Piecing eyes through the curtain to greet the angels.
Their blazing eyes glitter navy blue,
Their souls, serene, a cold sea.
The solitude around our neighbourhood is
welcome in the morning
as my eyes overlook the delicatly covered grasses of dew
I walk from block to block looking at the houses
some out of the 1950's that need a little work
and others
so modern one is not sure where the entrance is...
I notice
to my delight
there is a pond created with streaks of orange fliting hither and non
past the greenery
and into a shell for cover -
some lucky cat could get lucky one day-
The air is so sweet
honeysuckle fragrance reminds me of my youth
and I am filled with a warmth
that
transends explanation,
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.