So, I usually teach poetry in November and December. And to help my advanced 9th graders get a better grip on meter, I have them spend about half an hour writing limericks one day. This lesson never fails to be a big hit. Really -- silly, insulting poems with an annoying beat -- what more could they want?
Of course, I have to tell them that for school purposes, there limericks must be no worse than a PG13 rating. This usually draws groans from the class. And every year, I follow up those groans with the same joke: "This means, of course, that you may NOT write the famously unfinished limerick, 'There once was a girl from Nantucket.'" Inevitably, there is about a 3 second pause while they all work through the possible rhymes for Nantucket, and then the laugh really loud and spring into action, determined to write a poem that cuts as close to the edge as possible without actually breaking the rules.
It's awesome.
But this year had an added twist, for one girl (an exceptionally bright one, I might add, as you can guess from the words of her limerick) handed me this delightful little bit of limerickery:
There once was a girl from Nantucket
Who told all the men they could chuck it.
The men, yes, those men,
Those embarrassing men --
Fools, next to the girl from Nantucket.
Supreme win on this one, I think.
I put a gold star on her forehead (the ultimate honor of humor in my classroom).
I've never heard the "girl from Nantucket" one, but I do know a complete one about "a man from Nantucket", which I will not share here. But I have to admit, that girl in your class is brilliant.
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