Analysis of Limerick:There was an Old Man of the coast

Edward Lear 1812 (Holloway) – 1888 (Sanremo)



There was an Old Man of the coast,
Who placidly sat on a post;
But when it was cold
He relinquished his hold
And called for some hot buttered toast.


Scheme AABBA
Poetic Form Limerick 
Metre 11111101 11001101 11111 101011 01111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 152
Words 32
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 5
Lines Amount 5
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 116
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

9 sec read
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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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