Analysis of Limerick: There was an Old Person of Basing

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Person of Basing,
Whose presence of mind was amazing;
He purchased a steed,
Which he rode at full speed,
And escaped from the people of Basing.


Scheme AABBA
Poetic Form Limerick 
Metre 111110110 110111010 11001 111111 0011010110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 164
Words 32
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 126
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

9 sec read
107

Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is known now mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. more…

All Edward Lear poems | Edward Lear Books

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