The Fifth Line
Limericks After Lear
Published on 2. November 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
142 pages
978-0-6489059-0-5 (ISBN)
Description
There was an Old Man who was cheered¿When the birds made a home in his beard;¿But the ostrich was banned¿On account of the sand,¿So it stood at the window and sneered.
One hundred and twelve brand new limericks based on Edward Lear's ground-breaking work, A Book of Nonsense.
¿Plus Edward Lear's original verses.¿
That's two hundred and twenty four limericks!¿
But why the new new take on old poems?
¿Because Edward Lear skipped the most important part of a limerick - the fifth line, which adds a twist to the story and makes us chuckle.¿
The Fifth Line draws on every verse in A Book of Nonsense, creating from each a brand new limerick with the twist and chuckle it deserves.¿
They're all here, from An Old Man With a Nose to A Young Lady Whose Bonnet, and everything in between.¿
The Fifth Line: Limericks After Lear.¿
Plus Lear.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Australia
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
160 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-6489059-0-5 (9780648905905)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
John Arthur Nichol hates writing about himself in the third person, so I won't do that.I was born in a hospital named for a king, which now forms part of a hospital named for a prince, and I assume both will be subsumed one day in a hospital named for a robber baron, of whom Sydney's had plenty.67 years later I've worked out what I want to do with my life, and it's something I've been doing all along. I write in verse. I'm not calling it poetry, but I write in verse. I can't help it. Verse happens all day long in my head as my thoughts mould to the flow of half-remembered melodies. English nags me with its rhythms; and if that's not bad enough, I'm compelled to rhyme.So that's who I am and what I do. It's taken a lifetime to recognise it, accept it, and work out what to do about it.I thought for a time that picture books must be the vessel to carry my stories written in verse, so Sascha Martin's Rocket-Ship, Time Machine and Super Ball, respectively, appeared with the beautiful illustrations of Manuela Pentangelo.But the more I wrote ... the more I wrote. The more I wrote, the more I enjoyed it. And the more I understood my needs and my intention.I wasn't writing picture books.I was writing stories that made me smile. I think they make other people smile as well. Not everyone. Just the people who get what I'm doing and who enjoy a smile.They're the ones I'm writing for. And me, of course.So, text is my medium, my stories are in verse that rhymes, my audience is older kids, grown-ups, family, but only the ones who like rhyming smiles. And the format is regular paperback.Just the facts, Ma'am ...1955: Born in Sydney. 65 years of stony sleep ...2020: Retired. New website for my writing. 2022: Epiphany. New website MK II for my writing. Torn between two websites (feeling like a fool). Still writing in verse. Still smiling.