Re: There once was a gentleman...

[arkturuz]

Yes, the limerick isn't that good: you forgot 'vim' :-) I suggest a slightly different rhyme sequence:

there once was a gentleman named jim
whose light was incredibly dim
he oft used a vim;
when parsing his grammar
he oft used a hammer
and never the wiser was him

[chargrill]

Hi arkturuz,

Please check the wikipedia entry for Limerick, which is slightly excerpted here:

A limerick is a five-line poem with a strict meter, popularized by Edward Lear and Charlie Murphy. The rhyme scheme is usually "A-A-B-B-A", with a rather rigid meter. The first, second, and fifth lines are three metrical feet; the third and fourth two metrical feet.

... and the page is filled with examples that follow the same form. I've never heard it is "metrical feet" - I've usually heard it referred to as "beats", but the meaning is the same.

[arkturuz]

Heh, I was sure that limerick was some sort of a short poem without strict rules you quoted. Also, I wanted to put vim somewhere into it. :-)
I used to write Free Verse poetry, so I forgot about the rules and regulations. Thank you for the correction!