Sing Limericks with Emily (“There Was an Old Man with a Beard”)
Posted on: February 21, 2012
- In: Art of Singing a Song | Case for Singable Books | Heartfelt Musings | Lyrics | Nursery Rhymes and Mother Goose | Poetry | SBWE in Person | SBWE Sing-Along Program for Classrooms and Families | Sing Along Tracks | Singable Book Title | Singable Poem | Singable Poetry | Song History
- Leave a Comment
Over time, I’ve run across a number of limerick poems in illustrated compilations of children’s poetry, especially as hilariously written by Edward Lear.
For example:
THERE WAS AN OLD MAN WITH A BEARD
Limerick by Edward Lear
Traditional Tune
Illustrated by
Sing along with Emily:
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/limerick-tune-there-was-an-old
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, “It is just as I feared!
Two owls and a hen,
Four larks and a wren
Have all built their nests in my beard!”
The illustration above is from:
*
Eleven and Three are Poetry
Poems and Music by Various Artists
Compiled by Sally Nohelty
Illustrated by Kelly Oechsli
**********************
Another Old Man with a Beard! This one is drawn by Lois Ehlert:
There Was an Old Man with a Beard
Limerick by Edward Lear
Illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Published in her book, “Limericks by Lear” (World Press, 1965)
The above illustration is from:
*
Limericks by Lear
Verses by Edward Lear
Sing to a Traditional Tune
Illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Published in 1965 by World Publishing Company
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 65-22152
Sing along using this tune which works for every limerick:
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/limerick-tune-there-was-an-old
**********************
I’ve found a couple of tunes (all similar) to will make any limerick singable:
Sesame Street’s got a good limerick tune, you can hear here:
http://www.amazon.com/Limerick-Song-Come-Sing-Along/dp/B0041XOO18/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1329688229&sr=1-31
Hear Oscar Brand sing the tune on one of his sing-along albums:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050N8KCM/ref=dm_dp_trk10?ie=UTF8&qid=1329687452&sr=1-5
**********************
Sing Limericks with Emily
I sang the tune into my little recorder and you can hear it here:
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/limerick-tune-there-was-an-old
I also made up a limerick and sang it for my friend Bill B’s Birthday (March 2012)
http://soundcloud.com/singbookswithemily/bill-b-bday-limerick-by-eleg
**********************
I read somewhere that limericks can be sung to the tune of “The Gay Caballero” and the tune for this song sounds a lot like all the other limerick tunes I found.
**********************
What is a limerick?
Click these links and find out:
http://volweb.utk.edu/school/bedford/harrisms/limerick.htm
*
http://www.limericks.org/pentatette/whatis.htm
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_%28poetry%29
**********************
Addendum 1/18/2013
I made this sheet, inspired by a wonderful experience in a classroom in January 2013 and I thought it would work great for children who were interested in writing and illustrating limericks to sing with the tune:
Illustration/writing sheets that kids used for drawing pictures and writing sentences, I made up this printable version:
*
SBWE Verse and Illustration Sheet
To view or print this sheet, click here:
illustration and verse sheet
In Sing Books, we frequently talk about folk songs which have changed over time. People have used the tune for their own purposes. Lyrics for songs like “Yankee Doodle,” “I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago,” and “Catalina Magdelana” (to name just a few) have been added, expanded, or changed as the songs have moved through new generations. The great folk singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow called this “The Folk Process.”
Children can use a sheet like this (or any plain sheet of paper) to write out a verse and illustrate it and then SING it!
Besides contributing to the Folk Process of existing folk songs, children can use this sheet to write a little poem and make up a tune, write limericks and sing them with the standard limerick tune, or just draw a picture and write a sentence about it.
**********************
**********************
Related Posts
POETRY SINGABLE POETRY
An ever-expanding list of singable poems from compilations or singable poems creating individual Singable Picture Books
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/singable-poetry-a-list-of-poems-that-can-be-sung-from-illustrated-compilations-of-poetry-and-singable-picture-books/
*
EDWARD LEAR
A list of books with musical settings of, and illustrating Singable Picture Book versions of, Edward Lear’s poems:
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/singable-picture-book-spotlight-1302011-edward-lear-and-william-mathias-learsongs/
*
Making up Limericks for Friends
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/making-up-limericks-for-friends/
*
SONGS BY EMILY
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/songs-by-emily/
*
A Yellow Submarine Request from a Cutie: a new SBWE Sing-Along Songbook Lyric Sheet
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/a-yellow-submarine-request-from-a-cutie-a-new-sbwe-sing-along-songbook-lyric-sheet/
