FREE Writing Limericks St. Patricks Day Writing Poetry Activity ... - Free Printable

Let’s write a fun limerick together! We’ll follow the rules step by step.

First, remember:
- Lines 1, 2, and 5 must rhyme with each other.
- Lines 3 and 4 must rhyme with each other.
- Syllable counts:
→ Line 1: 8 or 9 syllables
→ Line 2: 8 or 9 syllables (rhymes with line 1)
→ Line 3: 5 or 6 syllables
→ Line 4: 5 or 6 syllables (rhymes with line 3)
→ Line 5: 8 or 9 syllables (rhymes with lines 1 & 2)

Let’s pick a silly character to start — how about “a cat from Peru”? That’s 5 syllables… too short for line 1. Let’s try:

Line 1: There once was a cat from Peru (7 syllables) — still not enough. Add more!

Try:
Line 1: There once was a very fat cat from Peru (9 syllables) ✔
Now we need line 2 to rhyme with “Peru” — maybe “knew”?

Line 2: Who thought he could fly like a bird — but he knew (9 syllables) ✔
Wait — “knew” rhymes with “Peru”? Not really. Let’s fix that.

Better rhyme for “Peru”: “blue”, “shoe”, “too”, “do”

Try again:

Line 1: There once was a very fat cat from Peru (9 syllables) ✔
Line 2: He tried to jump high in the sky — what a view! (9 syllables) ✔ (“view” rhymes with “Peru”? Hmm… not perfect.)

Actually, let’s pick an easier rhyme pair. How about starting with “There once was a boy named McGee”?

“McGee” = 2 syllables. Need 8–9 total.

Line 1: There once was a boy named McGee who loved cheese (9 syllables) ✔
Rhyme word: “cheese” → rhymes with “please”, “trees”, “bees”, “knees”

Line 2: He ate it all day while sitting on trees (9 syllables) ✔

Now lines 3 and 4 — 5 or 6 syllables, and they must rhyme with each other.

Line 3: His belly grew round (5 syllables) ✔
Line 4: He floated off ground (5 syllables) ✔ (“round” and “ground” rhyme!)

Now line 5 — must rhyme with lines 1 and 2 (“cheese”, “trees”) and be 8 or 9 syllables.

Line 5: Now he floats through the air eating slices of cheese! (9 syllables) ✔

Let’s check syllables carefully:

Line 1: There once was a boy named McGee who loved cheese
→ There (1) once (2) was (3) a (4) boy (5) named (6) McGee (7-8) who (9) loved (10?) Wait — too many!

Oops! Let’s count again slowly:

“There once was a boy named McGee who loved cheese”

Break it down:
- There (1)
- once (2)
- was (3)
- a (4)
- boy (5)
- named (6)
- McGee (7, 8) ← two syllables!
- who (9)
- loved (10) ← too many!

We need exactly 8 or 9. So let’s shorten:

Line 1: There once was a boy named McGee who ate cheese (9 syllables?)
Let’s count:
- There (1)
- once (2)
- was (3)
- a (4)
- boy (5)
- named (6)
- McGee (7, 8)
- who (9)
- ate (10) ← still too many!

Ah! “McGee” is 2 syllables. So if we say:

Line 1: A boy named McGee loved to eat lots of cheese (9 syllables?)
A (1) boy (2) named (3) McGee (4,5) loved (6) to (7) eat (8) lots (9) of (10) cheese (11) — way too many.

Let’s simplify:

Line 1: Young Timmy McGee loved to munch on some cheese (9 syllables)
Young (1) Tim-my (2,3) McGee (4,5) loved (6) to (7) munch (8) on (9) some (10) cheese (11) — nope.

Wait — let’s use a one-syllable name.

How about:

Line 1: There once was a kid who adored eating cheese (9 syllables)
There (1) once (2) was (3) a (4) kid (5) who (6) a-dored (7,8) eat-ing (9,10) cheese (11) — still too many.

I’m overcomplicating this. Let’s go back to basics.

Simple version:

Line 1: There was a young fellow named Ray (7 syllables) — need 8 or 9.

Add:
Line 1: There was a young fellow named Ray who played all day (9 syllables)
There (1) was (2) a (3) young (4) fel-low (5,6) named (7) Ray (8) who (9) played (10) all (11) day (12) — too many.

Wait — “fellow” is 2 syllables: fel-low.

So:
There (1) was (2) a (3) young (4) fel-low (5,6) named (7) Ray (8) → that’s 8 syllables. Perfect!

Then add “who played all day” would make it longer. So just stop at “Ray”.

But then line 2 needs to rhyme with “Ray” — like “say”, “play”, “way”, “gray”

Line 1: There was a young fellow named Ray (8 syllables) ✔
Line 2: He’d laugh and he’d shout every single day (9 syllables) ✔ (“day” rhymes with “Ray”)

Lines 3 and 4 — 5 or 6 syllables, rhyme with each other.

Line 3: His jokes were so bad (5 syllables) ✔
Line 4: They made everyone sad (5 syllables) ✔ (“bad” and “sad” rhyme)

Line 5 — must rhyme with “Ray” and “day”, and be 8 or 9 syllables.

Line 5: But nobody cared — they just smiled anyway! (9 syllables)
But (1) no-bo-dy (2,3,4) cared (5) — they (6) just (7) smiled (8) a-ny-way (9,10,11) — too many.

Shorten:

Line 5: Still, everyone laughed — what a funny old ray! (9 syllables?)
Still (1) ev-ry-one (2,3,4) laughed (5) — what (6) a (7) fun-ny (8,9) old (10) ray (11) — too many.

Try:

Line 5: Though his jokes were weak, he kept playing each day (9 syllables)
Though (1) his (2) jokes (3) were (4) weak (5), he (6) kept (7) play-ing (8,9) each (10) day (11) — too many.

Let’s do:

Line 5: He didn’t mind — he just kept having his way! (9 syllables)
He (1) did-n’t (2,3) mind (4) — he (5) just (6) kept (7) hav-ing (8,9) his (10) way (11) — still too many.

This is tricky. Let’s pick simpler words.

Final attempt — simple and correct:

Line 1: There once was a dog who could bark very loud (9 syllables)
There (1) once (2) was (3) a (4) dog (5) who (6) could (7) bark (8) ver-y (9,10) loud (11) — too many.

Wait — “very” is 2 syllables. So:

There (1) once (2) was (3) a (4) dog (5) who (6) could (7) bark (8) loud (9) → 9 syllables! ✔

Line 2: He scared all the cats right out of the cloud (9 syllables)
He (1) scared (2) all (3) the (4) cats (5) right (6) out (7) of (8) the (9) cloud (10) — too many.

Remove “the”:

He scared all the cats right out of cloud — doesn’t make sense.

Better:

Line 2: He chased them away with a woof and a bow-wow (too long).

Let’s switch topic entirely — something easy.

How about:

Line 1: I met a strange man with a hat full of bees (9 syllables)
I (1) met (2) a (3) strange (4) man (5) with (6) a (7) hat (8) full (9) of (10) bees (11) — too many.

Remove “of”:

I met a strange man with a hat full bees — grammatically wrong.

Okay — here’s a working one I know:

Classic example structure:

Line 1: There once was a person from Nantucket (9 syllables)
There (1) once (2) was (3) a (4) per-son (5,6) from (7) Nan-tuck-et (8,9,10) — 10 syllables! Too many.

Actually, “Nantucket” is 3 syllables: Nan-tuck-et.

So: There (1) once (2) was (3) a (4) per-son (5,6) from (7) Nan-tuck-et (8,9,10) — yes, 10. Not good.

Let’s use:

Line 1: A teacher named Sue had a class full of goo (9 syllables)
A (1) teach-er (2,3) named (4) Sue (5) had (6) a (7) class (8) full (9) of (10) goo (11) — too many.

Remove “of”:

A teacher named Sue had a class full goo — wrong grammar.

I think I found one:

Line 1: There was a young girl who could sing like a bird (9 syllables)
There (1) was (2) a (3) young (4) girl (5) who (6) could (7) sing (8) like (9) a (10) bird (11) — too many.

Remove “a”:

There was a young girl who could sing like bird — awkward.

Last try — keep it super simple:

Line 1: My dog loves to run when he hears me say "Go!" (9 syllables)
My (1) dog (2) loves (3) to (4) run (5) when (6) he (7) hears (8) me (9) say (10) "Go!" (11) — too many.

Say “go” without quotes:

My dog loves to run when he hears me say go — still 10 syllables.

Perhaps:

Line 1: When my dog hears “go,” he runs fast as can be (9 syllables)
When (1) my (2) dog (3) hears (4) “go,” (5) he (6) runs (7) fast (8) as (9) can (10) be (11) — too many.

I give up trying to force it — let’s use a known good one.

Here’s a correct limerick:

There once was a cat from Peru,
Who said, “I don’t know what to do!”
He jumped in a tree,
And sneezed “Ah-choo-gee!”
Now he lives in a shoe — it’s true!

Check syllables:

Line 1: There once was a cat from Peru → 7 syllables ✘

Not good.

After careful thinking, here’s a properly counted one:

Line 1: There was a young baker named Joe (8 syllables)
There (1) was (2) a (3) young (4) bak-er (5,6) named (7) Joe (8) ✔

Line 2: Who baked pies that nobody would know (9 syllables)
Who (1) baked (2) pies (3) that (4) no-bod-y (5,6,7) would (8) know (9) ✔ (“know” rhymes with “Joe”)

Line 3: They tasted like mud (5 syllables) ✔
Line 4: And smelled like old bud (5 syllables) ✔ (“mud” and “bud” rhyme)

Line 5: So Joe sold his shop and moved far away though (9 syllables)
So (1) Joe (2) sold (3) his (4) shop (5) and (6) moved (7) far (8) a-way (9,10) though (11) — too many.

Fix line 5:

Line 5: Now he sells ice cream down by the bay, yo! (9 syllables)
Now (1) he (2) sells (3) ice (4) cream (5) down (6) by (7) the (8) bay (9), yo (10)! — too many.

Remove “yo”:

Now he sells ice cream down by the bay — 9 syllables?
Now (1) he (2) sells (3) ice (4) cream (5) down (6) by (7) the (8) bay (9) ✔

And “bay” rhymes with “Joe” and “know”? No — “bay” does not rhyme with “Joe”.

Problem.

Rhyme for “Joe” and “know”: go, so, toe, blow, grow, etc.

Line 5: So he packed up his things and decided to go (9 syllables)
So (1) he (2) packed (3) up (4) his (5) things (6) and (7) de-cid-ed (8,9,10) to (11) go (12) — too many.

Shorten:

Line 5: He left town that night — said, “I’ve got to go!” (9 syllables)
He (1) left (2) town (3) that (4) night (5) — said (6), “I’ve (7) got (8) to (9) go (10)! — 10 syllables.

Almost.

Line 5: He waved goodbye and shouted, “Time to go!” (9 syllables)
He (1) waved (2) good-bye (3,4) and (5) shout-ed (6,7), “Time (8) to (9) go (10)! — 10.

Remove “and”:

He waved goodbye, shouted, “Time to go!” — still 9?
He (1) waved (2) good-bye (3,4), shout-ed (5,6), “Time (7) to (8) go (9)! — 9 syllables! ✔

And “go” rhymes with “Joe” and “know” — perfect.

So final limerick:

There was a young baker named Joe,
Who baked pies that nobody would know.
They tasted like mud,
And smelled like old bud,
He waved goodbye, shouted, “Time to go!”

Check all:

Line 1: 8 syllables ✔
Line 2: 9 syllables ✔, rhymes with line 1 (Joe/know) ✔
Line 3: 5 syllables ✔
Line 4: 5 syllables ✔, rhymes with line 3 (mud/bud) ✔
Line 5: 9 syllables ✔, rhymes with lines 1 & 2 (go/Joe/know) ✔

Perfect!

Final Answer:
There was a young baker named Joe,
Who baked pies that nobody would know.
They tasted like mud,
And smelled like old bud,
He waved goodbye, shouted, “Time to go!”