A limerick is a humorous five-line poem with a distinct anapestic meter (two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable: da-da-DUM). The typical rhyme scheme of a limerick is AABBA, where:

• Lines 1, 2, and 5 have three anapestic feet (da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM).

• Lines 3 and 4 have two anapestic feet (da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM).