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Poetry wears many hats. There are short and long poems; poems that are dead serious, and poems that are downright silly. Some of the best are those that make us laugh. As a would-be poet, it's worth understanding the different types of poems that can be used to express humour. By learning a few simple rules, you, too, can write poems that are guaranteed to make your friends giggle.

Nursery rhymes

You are probably familiar with nursery rhymes - short poems with silly images such as old women living in shoes! But did you know that some poets write new words to old nursery rhymes for a laugh? Here's a funny version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:

Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!

How I wonder where you're at!

Up above the world you fly,

Like a tea-tray in the sky.

By Lewis Carroll

Now replace the underlined words with your own to create a new rhyme.

Limericks

Limericks are short poems containing five lines. No one is quite sure where the word 'limerick' comes from, but some people say that a group of poets who lived in Limerick, Ireland, invented it. The rules for writing a limerick are simple: The last words of the first, second and fifth lines rhyme. And the last words of the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other. Here's an example:

A man from Beijing

There once was a man from Beijing

Who truly believed he was King

So he wore a crown

When he went to town

That silly man from Beijing

Write your own limerick by replacing

the underlined words. Or try

something completely new. You can start like this:

There was an old lady from ...

A man who bought a new ...

A boy who was terribly ...

Clerihews

Clerihews are humorous poems about people. They are easy to write because they are only four lines long and have just a few simple rules: 1) the first and second lines rhyme with each other; 2) the third and fourth lines rhyme; and 3) the first line names the person. Here's an example:

Mr Hammer

Our English teacher Mr Hammer

Really knows his grammar.

But his poems are a bore

And they make us snore.

Try writing your own clerihew by replacing the underlined words.

Nonsense poems

This entertaining form of poetry is just what its name suggests - pure nonsense. Nonsense poems often contain made-up words and outrageous stories and images. The poem below is full of words that the poet dreamed up. It's from the book Through the Looking Glass, which contains a passage explaining that 'brillig' means teatime and 'slithy' means lithe and slimy.

Jabberwocky

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

by Lewis Carroll

See how many words you and your friends can make up to describe the following:

The wind blowing through the trees (eg. whishell)

Shoes running across the playground

Raindrops hitting the pavement

You don't need to learn how to write all the poems mentioned above, but it's nice to know how to write a few. The more methods you know for writing funny poems, the easier it becomes.

Remember that every poem you write makes you a better poet!



Rhymes to make you laugh