National Limerick Day
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Overview
National Limerick Day is observed annually on May 12th, celebrating the playful five-line poetic form and commemorating the birthday of Edward Lear (1812–1888), a renowned English artist, illustrator, author, and poet largely credited with popularizing the limerick. This day encourages people to embrace the humor and linguistic creativity of limericks by reading, writing, and sharing these distinctive AABBA rhyme-schemed poems, which are often witty, absurd, or nonsensical.
Origin and story
A limerick is a five-line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme, where lines 1, 2, and 5 are longer and rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 are shorter and rhyme.
Edward Lear, whose birthday is celebrated on this day, published "A Book of Nonsense" in 1846, which popularized the limerick form, though he typically referred to them as 'nonsense rhymes'.
Quick facts
- DateMay 12
- TypeCultural / community observance
- Great forFriends, Families, Classrooms, Teams
Also on this date
Ways to celebrate
The date honors the poet who made limericks famous — even though he didn't invent the form and, according to some historians, didn't even coin the name.
Meet the poet behind the date
May 12 marks the 1812 birthday of Edward Lear, the English artist and writer whose 1846 collection "Book of Nonsense" pushed the five-line, AABBA-rhymed poem into the cultural mainstream.
Know the form predates Lear by centuries
The limerick's distinctive rhyme scheme existed long before Lear picked it up — the earliest recorded example is often attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas, a 13th-century Latin prayer that already follows the same AABBA structure.
Read the fuller history
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Did you know?
The observance has reportedly been marked on Lear's birthday since at least 1984 — meaning the holiday has been running for less than a fifth of the time the limerick form itself has existed.
Fun facts
- A limerick is a five-line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme, where lines 1, 2, and 5 are longer and rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 are shorter and rhyme.
- Edward Lear, whose birthday is celebrated on this day, published "A Book of Nonsense" in 1846, which popularized the limerick form, though he typically referred to them as 'nonsense rhymes'.
- The exact origin of the name 'limerick' is debated, but it may stem from the Irish city of Limerick or a popular 19th-century parlor game where participants composed extemporaneous verses.
Sources and attribution
National Limerick Day Marks Birthday of Poet Edward Lear (UPI)
External links may lead to third-party websites.
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FAQ
- When is National Limerick Day?
- It is observed on May 12 each year.
- What is National Limerick Day?
- National Limerick Day is observed annually on May 12th, celebrating the playful five-line poetic form and commemorating the birthday of Edward Lear (1812–1888), a renowned English artist, illustrator, author, and poet largely credited with popularizing the limerick. This day encourages people to embrace the humor and linguistic creativity of limericks by reading, writing, and sharing these distinctive AABBA rhyme-schemed poems, which are often witty, absurd, or nonsensical.
- How do people celebrate National Limerick Day?
- Write a limerick and honor Edward Lear, born May 12, 1812, whose 'Book of Nonsense' popularized the form — even though the AABBA rhyme scheme itself is traced back as far as a 13th-century prayer by Saint Thomas Aquinas.
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