Poetic Form- Clerihew

Jack Huber
Jack Huber, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Dec 9, 2009 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
A clerihew is a humorous 4-line poem about a celebrity, named in the first line. Often the celebrity's name comprises the entire first line. Invented by poet Edmund Clerihew Bentley, a Clerihew pokes fun at someone famous or puts them in an absurd light, though is not abusive. It is common for a Clerihew to parody short eulogies.

There is no set meter. In fact, the Clerihew usually contains irregular line lengths. The rhyming scheme of "a-a-b-b" can be comically contrived.

In a rhyming pattern, lines ending in a sound designated by "a" only rhyme with other "a" lines, "b" lines only with other "b" lines, and so on.

The title of a Clerihew is always the name of its subject.

Examples:

Charlie Sheen

The great Charlie Sheen
is a fan of caffeine,
especially when his head is tender-
recovering from his latest bender.

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks
must own some banks.
He's almost Donald Trump
in the guise of Forrest Gump.

Published by Jack Huber

Jack's background includes several years of business development and over 25 years in the computer industry. He is currently a Systems Analyst at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport. Jack is a published poet...   View profile

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  • Description and aspects of the Clerihew poem
  • Examples

1 Comments

Post a Comment
  • Teresa Mahieu 12/9/2009

    These sound like fun and I loved your choice of examples.

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