There was a young lady from . . .

There was a young man of Cape Horn
Who wished that he hadn't been born,
And he wouldn't have been
If his father had seen
That the end of the condom was torn!

Two slugs in a vegetable bed
Said ' "Lettuce" eat flowers instead.'
An hors d'oeuvre of carnations
Caused acute palpitations;
And now, thank the Lord, they're both dead.

There was a young lady of Ryde
Who ate some sour apples and died.
The apples fermented
Inside the lamented
And made cider inside 'er inside.

Here is a late entry (so to speak!)

There was a young queer in Khartoum
Took a lesbian up to his room
They argued a lot
Over who would do what,
And how, and with what, and to whom!

A love-sick young barn-owl in Kew
Had a pretty young she-owl in view.
He twittered, "I oughter
Endeavor to court 'er
But I don't have enough wit to woo!"

Yes anno that's it - but I never had the extra line!

Who said anything about dwelling in the past? So what if some of the young don't like it? Are they are the official arbiters of taste or whaat is good? Sounds as if you are saying you don't like literature. Fine, Each to his own. Interesting though that Julia Donaldson has written a sequel to The Owl and The Pussy Cat. She has said that Lear and his wonderful rhymes and made up words were a great influence on her. So that's one more for "literature".

And the local hurling team in Kilkenny are known as "the cats" - after the limerick possibly.
Thus dismissing the world's literary heritage in a couple of lines nonu What are you on?

NO good dwelling in the past !! the young of today like it or not , Don"t dwell I n the past

I think the limerick has developed since Lear - it has more wit and humour and wordplay - and sometimes a political element.

What, Nonu, would you jettison Shakespeare, Austen, Hardy, Trollope, Eliot, Wordsworth.................

I have never enjoyed Lear , too old & fuddy & duddy.

Have to move on , no good dwelling in the past!

I remember lots of Edward Lear's original limericks - they are not all good.

There was an old man who said 'How,
Shall I flee from this horrible cow
I will sit on this style
And continue to smile
Which may soften the heart of that cow'

There was an old man of Cape Horn,
Who wished he had never been born
So he sat in a chair
Till he died of despair
That dolorous old man of Cape Horn..

That was an old man in a tree
Who was horribly bored by a bee
When they said 'Does it buzz?'
He replied 'Yes it does -
It's a regular brute of a bee'.

Personally, I find the risqué ones much funnier!

There was a young woman from 'Pindi
Who had trouble when learning some Hindi.
When they said 'Dont you know
It's like Urdu, but slow',
But not not like we speak it in Sindi.

Mutually Assured Destruction, Anno. Montagues and Capulets.

Sooo profound elegran !!

Sorry, missed a line:

There once were two cats from Kilkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many,
So they fought and they fit, they scratched and they bit
Till except for their nails and the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats there weren't any.

Is this the one you mean, Ali?

There once were two cats from Kilkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many,
So they fought and they fit, they scratched and they bit
Till instead of two cats there weren't any.

Thatbags I understand you, if Nonu doesn't. I agree. Overall patterns do influence the way one sees the individual elements.

What e you talking about THATBAGS , you sound like a robot , or someone who is under orders X

Can anyone remember the one about the Kilkenny cats?

I wish it to be known that my comment at 08:20:08 today was misguided in its assumption of unkindness. The things itself was not unkind and neither was the intention of the person who wrote it.

I do, however, understand why it was thought to be unkind and that is why I posted it.

I apologise for my mistakes.

So glad he uses warm spoons Mishap it's what you expect from a butler

Very good - sad to hear he has died.

Talking of ladies swooning......

Every time Lady Lowbodice swoons
Her bubbies pop out like balloons
But her butler stands by
With hauteur in his eye
And lifts them back in with warm spoons

One from Twitter, about David Frost

OMG , I meant Speaking for myself !

not the other definition !