This document provides information about two poetic forms - limericks and double dactyls. It defines their structures, gives examples of each, and provides students with an activity to write their own limericks and double dactyls in class and as homework. Limericks have a AABBA rhyme scheme and dactylic meter, while double dactyls are one sentence poems in two stanzas with dactylic dimeter and choriamb lines.

1. Limericks and Double Dactyls

2. Limerick 5 lines Rhyme AABBA Meter: De dum de dedum de dedum (de) X 2 De dum de dedum X 2 De dum de dedum de dedum(de)

3. There was a young lady from IckenhamWho went on a bus-trip to Twickenham.She drank too much beer,Which made her feel queer,So she took off her boots and was sick-in-'em.

4. A hooker there was from Victoria Who went by the nickname of Gloria. Her clients to please, She’d go down on her knees. They’d leave in a state of euphoria.

5. There was a young hooker from Kew Who filled her vagina with glue She said with a grin Well, they paid to get in They can pay to get out again, too.

6. Double Dactyl Whole poem is one sentence Two four-line stanzas All except 4 and eight are dactylic dimeter 4 and 8 are dactyl + one stress (dumdiddydum) aka a “choriamb” and they rhyme. First line is nonsense word: eg “higgledy piggledy” Second line usually introduces the topic and is often the name of a person, best if a double-dactyl (Hans Christian Anderson, Emily Dickinson, Alfred Lord Tennyson) Sixth line is often a single word. Eg parthenogenesis

7. Long-short-short, long-short-shortDactyls in dimeter,Verse form with choriambs(Masculine rhyme):One sentence (two stanzas)HexasyllabicallyChallenges poets whoDon't have the time.

8. I’ve often wondered inWhat kind of orbit aPlanet proceeds in aTesseract space? Multidimensional,Hyperelliptical,Dizzying spacemen inTrans-solar chase.

9. Hiffalump-heffalump,MeteorologistsIssue their forecasts onEach evening's news.Much as they'd like to giveDelphic-oracularStatements, don't bet on theWeather; you'll lose.

10. Double Dactyl Words Characteristically Aristocratically Nonconfrontational Semi-orgasmically Megalomania Microbiology anthropomorphically Uncomplimentary Indianapolis Parapsychology Garden-variety Incontrovertibly Ultra-traditional antipornography

11. Activity For class: write one double dactyl per group, and two limericks: one “clean” and one “not-so-clean” (try not to be absolutely offensive). Be prepared to read to class. For homework: write two double-dactyls and three limericks. Try to make them of contemporary or local interest – about people or events we would recognize. Peer editors, check for meter, accuracy and overall effect.