A funny, four-lined poem about a person is called a clerihew. The person can be a character in a book you know, a famous person, a family member or even a friend or teacher.
In 1905, a famous English novelist named Edmund Clerihew Bentley thought of this comical way to make fun of famous people. He wanted to create something new and different, so this was his idea. When you write a clerihew, make sure your words are not hurtful. Write something that everyone would enjoy, especially the subject of your poem.
Magic Dragon knows it’s fun to laugh at yourself when it’s fun for everyone.
Write your own clerihew following these steps:
1. Decide on a person you want to describe in your poem.
2. Write two rhyming lines about that person, putting their name at the end of the first line.
3. Write two funny rhyming lines that give more information about the person. When you write something funny about a person, and you have two rhyming lines using the person’s name and two more rhyming lines, you have created your own clerihew!
Here are a couple of examples:
- My very best friend, Sue
- Never knows what to do.
- So, she laughs and jokes
- With all the folks!
- A famous singer named Dolly
- Is oh, so very jolly.
- Her gigantic smile
- Reaches a mile!