Robert S. Plaul wrote:

On Mon, 8 Mar 2004, Titley, Nigel wrote:

...

Whilst agreeing that the limerick is possibly restricted in its metrical form, I cannot agree with the statement that it is restricted to humorous subjects, and hence at least one of the objections to its general use is fallacious.

$ whois -v limerick [...] The limerick class:

The limerick object represents a humorous poem that has five lines and the rhyme scheme "aabba". [...] text

Text of the limerick. Must be humorous, but not malicious or insulting. [...]

Although IMHO the limerick _is_ considered a humorous poem in literature, the limerick object is not.

...

My solution to the lack of alternative metrical objects would simply be to redefine all poetry as limericks.

I think, this is a poor solution. Haikus (and Sonnets, etc. respectively) are no limericks and never will be. Do you want the whole world to laugh about the RIPE NCC for not knowing what a limerick is?

...

Also it has the merit of offering increased employment opportunities for poets, who would see their services called upon to rewrite all existing poetry in the limerick form.

Sometimes. Maybe. But not every haiku can be rewritten into a limerick. Sometimes a haiku can say more than a thousand words.

...

Nigel

Robert

Anyone with even a meagre grasp of English should have been able to realise that my response was intended humorously..... sigh.... no matter Nigel -- Nigel Titley Peering Coordinator, FLAG Telecom +44 20 7478 9579 ********************************************************************** This e-mail message is confidential and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and contains information which is or may be confidential, non-public or legally privileged. Any dissemination or distribution of this message other than to its intended recipient is strictly prohibited. You should not copy it or use it for any purpose nor disclose the contents to any other person. If you have received this message in error, please notify us by email to postmaster@flagtelecom.com immediately and delete the original message and all copies from all locations in your computer systems. This e-mail has been swept by Mailsweeper TM for viruses. However, FLAG Telecom cannot accept liability for any damage which you may sustain as a result of software viruses. ********************************************************************** This message has been scanned for viruses by MailControl - www.mailcontrol.com