People poems
The word 'clerihew' sounds complicated. What is it? All will be revealed on this page.
A clerihew is a short poem about a person. It is only four lines long. The subject's name must be the final word of the first line, and the second line must end in a word that rhymes with this name. The third and fourth lines must rhyme and can be as long or as short as you want.
The poem should be nonsense and funny, with perhaps a bit of truth in it. It's really simple.
Meet Mr B
Edmond Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956) was an English writer who invented a new form of poem and named it after himself.
Here is one of Bentley's most famous clerihews. He wrote it about the architect Sir Christopher Wren who designed St Paul's Cathedral in London. Read it out aloud and you will understand immediately what a clerihew is.